President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 28, 2025.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, effectively took the side of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in his brutal invasion of Ukraine, calling visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and telling him he has “no cards” with which to negotiate.

“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty,” Trump said, berating Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in front of gathered reporters.

Vance added: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media... You should be thanking the president for trying to bring you into this conference.”

Trump has been trying to coerce Zelenskyy into handing over Ukraine’s mineral rights in exchange for US support, and the purpose of Zelenskyy’s visit was ostensibly to reach an agreement. Trump then told Zelenskyy that he was currently in no position to complain about the state of affairs, even though it was Putin, not Zelenskyy, who began the bloody three-year war.

“You don’t have the cards, but once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing, I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing,” he........

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