In an attempt to teach Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a lesson, the US has demanded a recorded public apology for his demeanour during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday, reports said on Tuesday.
During the meeting, Trump, Zelensky and JD Vance engaged in a heated exchange over the ceasefire deal with Russia.
Reports on Monday claimed that “there’s quite a disconnect happening here at the White House with their allies in Kiev.”
They further claimed, “Reporters have been told by a senior official here that nothing’s going to happen with this minerals deal until Zelensky goes in front of cameras and makes an explicit public apology for the way that he behaved… in the Oval Office.”
Shortly after his feud in the Oval Office, Zelensky on Sunday said that he was willing to continue a “constructive dialogue” with Washington and sign the agreement.
Hours after the confrontational episode on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio similarly advised Zelensky to apologise “for wasting our time...and turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz described Zelensky as the “problem” due to his refusal to “talk peace.”
“Time is not on his side. Time is not on the side of just forever continuing this conflict,” the official said.
“We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war,” he said.
He also cautioned Zelensky “not to test the limits of America’s patience, financial support, and military resources, arguing that now is the time to shift towards negotiations rather than prolonging the conflict with Russia.”
Waltz also criticised the ongoing “World War I-style trench warfare” as a costly strategy and highlighted Trump’s commitment to ending the conflict.
He continued bashing Zelensky following Friday's episode in Washington and compared him to an “ex-girlfriend that wants to argue about everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.”
Also read: US freezes military aid to Ukraine; will Zelensky blink now?
Experts have since said that the Zelensky’s days were counted as the US was willing to proceed to end the conflict with or without Ukraine, including the EU and its NATO allies.
The US power corridors are eagerly looking to end the war as soon as possible.
Additionally, as a mark of their commitment, the United States has paused or called off its entire cyber ops against Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Follow us
