KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was defending Ukraine’s honor when he argued with both U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in a disastrous Oval Office meeting last month.
“Why did the Ukrainians defend themselves at the start of this war? It was because of dignity,” Zelenskyy said in a recent interview with Time magazine, published Monday, in response to a question that noted his approval ratings had surged after the meeting.
“We do not consider ourselves some kind of superpower,” Zelenskyy said. On the contrary, Ukrainians “are very emotional, and when it comes to our sense of dignity, freedom, democracy, our people rise up and unite.”
American support for Ukraine has been in question since the Jan. 20 inauguration as Trump has frequently made clear his disdain for Kyiv’s leadership — a stance the Oval Office meeting brought into sharp focus. “In that moment there was the sense of not being allies, or not taking the position of an ally,” Zelenskyy said. “In that conversation, I was defending the dignity of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House became a historic diplomatic flop, as the high-stakes summit saw Trump and Vance lecture Zelenskyy for “not being grateful enough” for U.S. support, “not having strong cards” and “gambling with World War III.”
In the meeting, Zelenskyy responded that he had not come to play cards — and said Putin’s diplomacy alone would not end the war. “I signed the deal with him in 2019 … But after that, he broke this ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD [Vance], are you speaking about?” Zelenskyy said.
Trump later admitted the spat had been a tactic to pressure Ukraine to “do the right thing” by agreeing to a ceasefire. “You got to see a little glimpse at the Oval Office, but I think they are doing the right thing now, and we are trying to get the peace agreement done. We want to get a ceasefire and then a peace agreement,” Trump said.
After the catastrophic meeting, the U.S. cut aid and intelligence to Ukraine until Kyiv agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire with Russia during talks in Saudi Arabia on March 11.
Zelenskyy has since called the fateful White House meeting “regrettable” and has refused to publicly criticize Trump. During the Time interview he asked the reporter to “leave that to history,” hoping to turn the page and move on.
Russia, meanwhile, has continued to pummel Ukraine daily with missiles and drones — even as Russian President Vladimir Putin pays lip service to Trump over the concept of a ceasefire.
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