Trump’s team rejects 'ambush' claim in Zelenskyy dispute
Photo: National Security Advisor Michael Waltz (Getty Images)
US President’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz claims that yesterday’s dispute between Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not premeditated. According to him, a deal on rare earth minerals was waiting in the next room, which the parties were supposed to sign after the meeting, according to Waltz’s interview on Fox News.
"And let me just talk something very quickly: that this was some kind of ambush. That is absolutely and categorically false. We had a beautiful setting in the East Room, ready for both leaders to sign, that would have bound the United States and Ukraine together economically for a generation, for critical minerals that we need, economic investment that they need," said the US National Security Advisor.
He added that this would have occurred after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their readiness to send troops, and Trump, along with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, “had just” discussed broader security guarantees.
"So this really could have been and should have been a positive moment for Ukraine, and then we go to further negotiating with the Russians, bring this war to an end, and move the world forward and stop the death and destruction. But instead, what became clear, and I think what has the President (Donald Trump -ed.) so frustrated and frankly angry, is that it's not clear that Zelenskyy truly wants to stop the fighting," Waltz said.
According to him, although Zelenskyy had been warned, he came in and was determined to “discuss everything in front of the entire world,” after which Vance and Trump said, “Enough.” Waltz added that the Ukrainian president’s approach was wrong.
"And I got to tell you, this was the wrong approach, wrong time in history, and definitely the wrong President to try to do this kind of thing. This is not Joe Biden; this is Donald J. Trump. And I think the entire world saw that crystal clear," the US National Security Advisor concluded.
As a reminder, after the confrontation between the heads of state, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that he advised Volodymyr Zelenskyy to find a way to restore relations with Donald Trump.
