The Trump administration has privately made clear it wants a public apology from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to mend relations between the two countries, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing a European official.
This followed a Friday meeting in the Oval Office that went downhill after Vice President JD Vance accused Zelensky of not being grateful for US support.
Meanwhile, senior Republican politicians made public statements in the aftermath of the meeting. This included Senator Lindsey Graham stating, "Zelensky is either going to have to fundamentally change or go. I can't believe most Americans, after what they saw today, would want to be partners with Zelensky."
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson stated "The days of America being taken advantage of and disrespected are OVER."
"The death and destruction of the Russian-provoked war needs to stop immediately, and only our American President can put these two countries on a path to lasting peace. President Zelenskyy needed to acknowledge that."
“The only person on the planet who is actively trying to bring an end to this conflict is named Donald Trump, the President of the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio added.
"Zelensky has been trying to drag the United States into a nuclear war with Russia/WW3 for years now, and no one has called him on it," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard commented.
“It’s not clear that Zelenskyy truly wants to stop the fighting. He came in, even though he was warned not to, determined to litigate all of that … This was the wrong approach, wrong time in history, and definitely the wrong president to try to do this,” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stated.
'They were practically in tears'
Mike Waltz also spoke to Fox News's Charlie Hurt on Saturday where Waltz denied accusations from critics that the meeting was an “ambush” of Zelensky. The national security advisor and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both asked Zelensky to leave the White House after the meeting, according to Waltz.
Waltz told Hurt a lunch and a signing of a “critical minerals deal” was planned for the day, but did not move forward. Waltz accused Zelensky of doing his country a “disservice” and insulting the White House.
Hurt asked Waltz if Zelensky looked surprised, or had recognized what happened, when he was asked to leave the White House without lunch and singing the minerals deal agreement.
"No, he didn't, frankly. His team did." Waltz replied, adding, "His ambassador and his advisor were practically, I mean, they were practically in tears, wanting this to move forward, but Zelensky was still argumentative and finally what I said, I said, look, Mr. president, time is not on your side here."
"Time is not on your side on the battlefield, time is not on your side in terms of the world situation, and most importantly, US aid and the taxpayers’ tolerance is not unlimited," Waltz added.
Zelensky "has not gotten the memo that this is a new sheriff in town, this is a new president, and we are determined to take a new approach towards peace," Waltz commented.
Hurt, while thanking Waltz for speaking to him, stated that Zelensky has "a truly astonishing obliviousness to the real politics on the ground."
“I think he did his country a true disservice. And who is opposed to peace? If you disagree with how we’re going to end the war, fine, but you do that behind closed doors, not the way this was done. It was wholly unacceptable," Waltz replied.