Read the full transcript of the fiery exchange between the three men. Moments after saying he wished to be remembered as a “peacekeeper,” Donald Trump launched into a blistering admonishment of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to his face, as members of the press and horrified diplomats looked on.
![[Zelensky tries to make himself heard as Trump and Vance berate him]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/28/18/59/SEI241853751.jpeg)
At points in the barrage of criticism unleashed during Friday’s sit-down, the president was aided by his deputy, JD Vance, who on multiple occasions asked a stone-faced Zelensky if he had ever said “thank you” for U.S. military assistance. Here’s a full transcript of the fiery exchange, which begins with Trump being asked by a reporter about aligning himself with both Zelensky and Russian president Vladimir Putin:.
Trump: “Well, if I didn't align myself with both of them, you'd never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal?’ That doesn't work that way. I'm not aligned with Putin. I'm not aligned with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I'm aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with. You see, the hatred he's [Zelensky] got for Putin, it's very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He's got tremendous hatred, and I understand that, but I can tell you the other side is not exactly in love with him either. So it's not a question of alignment. I have to I'm aligned with the world. I want to get the thing set. I'm aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done. You want me to be tough? I could be tougher than any human being you've ever seen. I'd be so tough, but you're never going to get a deal that way. So that's the way it goes.”.
Vance: “I will respond to this. So look, for four years the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the President of the United States’ words mattered more than the President of the United States' actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That's what President Trump is doing.
Zelensky: [to Vance] Can I ask you [something]? Okay, so he occupied big parts of Ukraine, parts of the East and Crimea. So he occupied it on 2013 so during a lot of years, I'm not speaking about just Biden, but in those times there President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now the President Trump. And God bless President Trump will stop him. But during 2013 nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took he killed people.
Trump: “2015!”. Vance: “2014 to 2015.”. Trump: “I was not here.”. Zelensky: “But during 2014 till 2022 the situation was the same, that people are been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation, and we signed with him. Me like a new president in 2019 I signed with him. The deal I signed with him, Macron and Merkel. We signed ceasefire, ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him with gas contract... but after that, he broken the ceasefire He killed our people, and he didn't exchange prisoners we signed the exchange of prisons but he didn't do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you talking about. What do you mean?”.
Vance: “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country… Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring it into this conflict.”.
Zelensky: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you [can] say what problems we have? You should come once.”. Vance: “I've actually watched and seen the stories and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you've had problems?...And do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”.
Zelensky: “[There are] a lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean [in between], and don't feel it now, but you will feel it in the future. God bless you.”.
Trump: “Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel… because you're in no position to dictate that. Remember this, you're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. We're going to feel good. We're gonna feel very good and very strong.”.
