It could not have gone worse. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House on Friday was supposedly a chance to salvage his relationship with Donald Trump after a stormy few weeks. Instead, it has been holed beyond repair.
What was billed as an occasion to sign a deal on mineral extraction, cementing US interest in Ukraine’s economy for decades to come, descended into an angry argument that seemed to expose years of tension and distrust between the two leaders.
It was a breathtaking spectacle, broadcast to the world from the Oval Office, the likes of which we have never seen. It will fill Ukraine’s supporters with horror. You can picture Vladimir Putin watching in Kremlin, the Russian president rubbing his hands in glee.
Zelenskyy found himself being hectored by US vice-president JD Vance to “offer some words of appreciation” to America and its president for their military support. Zelenskyy retorted, quietly but defiantly, that Vance was speaking “loudly” about a country he had yet to visit.
It rapidly deteriorated from there, with a furious Trump telling his Ukrainian counterpart his country would be finished without American support.
“You don’t have the cards,” he said. “You are gambling with world war three.”
The camera cut away to Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington, her head in her hand. Her pained expression said it all: this is a relationship in free fall.
The argument seems to have started when Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not accept a mere ceasefire, since Putin would never respect it. Kyiv and other European capitals fear that Trump’s objective is to end the fighting, without pushing Moscow to accept a fair and enforceable peace, which would leave Russia time to regroup and attack again.
Zelenskyy would have been wiser to flatter the president and deploy all his charm, rather than being so direct. But it is not hard to imagine that Vance and Trump were spoiling for a fight with the Ukrainian leader, to put him in an even weaker position when it comes to talks. Arguably, the stage was set for an ambush.
In the past two weeks, Trump has done everything to undermine Zelenskyy, making early concessions to Moscow and depicting Ukraine as the aggressor in the war.
Now it seems he wants him out.
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Trump said as he wrapped up proceedings.
“That’s going to be great television, I will say that,” he added.
For Ukraine, it is infinitely more serious than that.