US President Donald Trump was so enraged with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during negotiations between the US and Russia in Riyadh that he was on the verge of halting military aid to Kyiv. This information comes from Axios, citing three American officials.
Six members of the American administration informed the publication that in the past nine days, there have been five incidents that have angered the head of the White House, Vice President Jay D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
On February 12. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed to Zelensky during a meeting in Kyiv to give the United States access to Ukrainian natural resources in exchange for support.
Trump later stated that Zelensky acted "rudely" and postponed the meeting because he "overslept."
On February 14. At the Munich Security Conference, Vance and Rubio sought Zelensky's agreement to finalize a deal regarding the extraction of rare earth minerals worth $500 billion.
The Ukrainian president surprised the Americans by stating that he did not have the authority to unilaterally approve the agreement without the Verkhovna Rada.
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On February 15. In Munich, Zelensky publicly rejected the US proposal. According to sources in the White House, his remarks that the agreement "does not align with the interests of a sovereign Ukraine" were noticeably different from the positive comments he made on social media platform X earlier.
On February 18. Zelensky criticized the meeting between US and Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing that Ukraine was not represented there.
Following this, Trump lashed out at Zelensky during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, accusing him of instigating full-scale battles and rating his approval in Ukraine at 4%.
According to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, at the beginning of February, Zelensky's approval rating was 57%.
On February 19. Zelensky responded to Trump, stating that he lived in a "disinformation space." Following this, the Republican published a statement on Truth Social claiming that the Ukrainian leader was a "dictator without elections."
This week, Vance, in a conversation with the conservative publication The National Pulse, stated that Zelensky was publicly "attacking the sole reason this country [Ukraine] exists."
And this is not something that will affect the President of the United States. In fact, it will have the opposite effect.
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According to three sources from Axios in the administration, Vance's comments should be interpreted as a threat to cease aid to Kyiv.
The White House believes that Zelensky has become accustomed to the support of former President Joe Biden and NATO countries, "so he has overstepped his bounds."
According to one interlocutor, "Trump-obsessed Europeans, who are not planning to send troops [to Ukraine], are giving him terrible advice."
As reported by "Podrobnosti," according to US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Trump's dissatisfaction was triggered by Zelensky's refusal to sign the proposed agreement granting the US access to Ukrainian subsoil.
The White House has presented Kyiv with an "enhanced" minerals agreement. Negotiations regarding this are being conducted in Kyiv by Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.