Trump pauses in the United States in Ukraine after dust with Zelenskyy – The Mercury News

By Aamer Madhani | Associated Press

Washington – President Donald Trump ordered a “break” towards Ukraine to help Ukraine on Monday after a disastrous oval office meeting while Trump seeks to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in peace talks with Russia.

An official of the White House said that Trump focuses on the conclusion of a peace agreement to end the more than three -year war launched by Ukraine’s total invasion by Russia, and wants Zelenskyy to “commit” for this purpose. The manager added that the United States “stopped and revised” his help to “make sure it contributes to a solution”. The manager spoke under the cover of anonymity to discuss help.

A few hours earlier, Trump criticized Zelenskyy on Monday for suggesting that the end of the Russian war against Ukraine “is still very, very far”.

The comments arise while the eminent Trump allies increase the pressure on Zelenskyy to radically change his approach to the American president, who made the war quickly absolute priority or to withdraw.

The long complicated relationship between the leaders reached a Nadir following a disastrous meeting of the White House in which Trump and the vice-president JD Vance excrupted Zelenskyy for not having been sufficiently grateful for the American support of Ukraine since the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of February 2022.

“It is the worst declaration that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not support it any longer!” Trump said in an article on his Truth social platform on the comments Zelenskyy made Sunday at the end of Sunday while talking to journalists in London.

Trump at a White House event later Monday referred to Zelenskyy’s reported comments on Monday and said the Ukrainian leader “better not to be right about it”.

“If anyone does not want to conclude an agreement, I think that person will not be very long,” added Trump. “This person will not be listened to very long.”

Trump challenged Zelenskyy suggesting that it would take time to conclude an agreement to end the war. The Ukrainian leader also tried to offer a positive vision of the American-Ukrainian relationship in the aftermath of the White House meeting last week.

Questioned by a journalist on the contours of a new European initiative to end the Russian war, Zelenskyy said: “We are talking about the first steps today, and, therefore, until they are on paper, I would not want to talk about it in detail.”

“An agreement to put an end to war is still very, very far, and no one has started all these stages yet,” he added.

But Trump was no longer irritated by Zelenskyy, which suggests that it will take time for the conflict to end.

“This is what I said, this guy does not want there to be peace as long as he has the support of America and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, categorically declared that they could not do the work without the United States – probably not a great declaration to have been made in terms of force against Russia,” added Trump in his post. “What do they think?”

Zelenskyy went to social networks shortly after Trump’s last criticism. He does not refer directly to Trump’s comments, but stressed that “it is very important that we are trying to make our diplomacy really substantial to put an end to this war as soon as possible”.

“We need real peace and the Ukrainians want it most because the war ruined our cities and cities,” added Zelenskyy. “We lose our people. We have to stop war and guarantee security. »»

Trump’s national security advisor said Zelenskyy’s posture during the talks of the Friday oval office “put in the air”, whether he is someone that the US administration will be able to face the future.

“Is it ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards the end of the fighting?” Mike Waltz said Fox News’ “American Road Room” earlier on Monday. “And can he and can he make the compromises necessary?”

Waltz has added another layer of doubt to American support, because other high -level Trump allies suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy becomes untenable.

House president Mike Johnson said on Sunday that Zelenskyy “needed to resume his senses and return to the table at gratitude or that someone else must lead the country” so that Ukraine continues to continue a peace agreement negotiated by the United States.

Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of Trump who was a noisy supporter of Ukraine, said shortly after the oval office meeting that Zelenskyy “needs to resign and send someone with whom we can do business, or he must change.”

Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin was probably in a hurry to end war in the midst of cracks between Trump and Zelenskyy and Europe and the United States on the future.

“It is not interested in ending the war,” said Stent, the main member of the Washington Institution Brooker. “He thinks Russia wins. … And he thinks that over time, the West will be more fractured. »»

The Trump administration and Ukrainian officials were to sign an agreement during the visit of Zelenskyy last week, which would have given access to the United States to critical minerals in Ukraine in part to reimburse more than $ 180 billion in the United States since the start of the war. The White House also billed such a pact as a way to tighten long-term American-Ukrainian relations.

The signing was abandoned after the talks of the Oval Office of Managers left the rails and the Officials of the White House asked Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation to leave.

Trump on Monday, however, suggested that he had not abandoned the economic pact, calling it “a lot”. He added that he expected to talk about the agreement during his speech on Tuesday before a joint session of the congress.

Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania republican who co-chaired the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, met on Monday with the chief of staff of Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, to bring the Agreement on mineral rights.

Fitzpatrick after the long appeal predicted that “the agreement will be signed in a short time”.

Journalist AP Tracy Brown has contributed the reports.

Originally published: March 3, 2025 at 4:55 p.m. PST