Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s first official visit to the White House under Donald Trump’s administration was anything but diplomatic.
As everyone know by now, the meeting was riddled with tension as Trump ended up openly critizing Zelensky and accusing him of being ungrateful.
However, following the heated exchange of words that took place in the Oval Office, Zelensky took to X to emphasize Ukraine’s one and only desire: Peace.
"Ukraine needs a just and lasting peace. Thank you, America, for your support. Thank you to the President, Congress, and the American people,” the tweet reads.
Trump, however, was less charitable in his own statement.
He took to his own sociale media platform, Truth Social, to suggest Zelensky was not genuinely interested in peace, implying that Ukraine was leveraging U.S. involvement for strategic gain.
“I have come to realize that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he believes our support gives him an upper hand in negotiations. I do not want an advantage—I want peace,” Trump wrote. “He has shown disrespect for the United States right in the precious Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace."
Brough With Him a Special Gift
The meeting, which was initially expected to yield progress on U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, ended without an agreement.
Hwoever, adding an unexpected twist to the visit, Zelensky presented Trump with a somewhat special gift in the shape of a belt from Oleksandr Usyk, the heavyweight boxing champion, according to sport.ua.
It has since come to light that Zelensky did not give Donald Trump the actual belt of boxer Oleksandr Usyk, but a commemorative one, created especially for the event, which saw the 37-year-old Ukrainian boxer beating Britain's Tyson Fury.
