Trump Stages Ukraine Spectacle in Act of Self Triumphalism

Trump Berates Zelensky in Media Glare Amid One-upmanship

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, March 1: In a rare spectacle, US President Donald Trump ambushed visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. With the aid of Vice President JD Vance, Trump assailed Zelensky for not agreeing to “terms” of the US for a “deal” with Russia to end the Ukraine War.

Trump claimed that “business cannot be done in such manner” as Zelenskyy doggedly refuted insinuations of Trump-Vance duo. Trump told Zelenskyy that “you don’t have cards”. Ukrainian President retorted, saying: “I’m not playing cards”.

Trump claimed that Zelensky was “gambling with lives of millions of the people by not agreeing to ceasefire”. The Ukrainian President insisted on “guarantees”.

Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful to the US”. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Zelenskyy stood firm to Trump and Vance almost bullying him with media cameras zooming in. He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin dishonoured previous ceasefire agreements.

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“In 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire. Ceasefire, all of them told me that he will never go. We signed with him gas contract… but after that he broken the ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisons,” Zelenskyy told Trump.

Vance accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful, saying that “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media”. “Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems,” claimed Vance.

Zelensky asked Vance if he had actually seen the frontlines of the war. “You have been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have,” asked Zelensky.

Vance replied, saying that “I’ve actually watched and seen the stories and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour”.

Trump berated Zelensky further amid the heated exchanges. “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. Right now, you don’t have your playing cards. You’re gambling with lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III,” claimed Trump to a disapproving Vance.

Vance accused Zelensky of campaigning for Kamala Hariss in the November Presidential elections. “You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October,” said Vance.

At one time Trump even called Zelensky “stupid”. “We gave you, this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment,” said Trump.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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