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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized Vice President JD Vance for appearing to “justify” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine, escalating tensions between Kyiv and Washington amid ongoing debates over US support for the war-torn nation.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, the relationship between President Zelenskyy and the Trump administration—particularly with Vice President JD Vance—took a sharp nosedive following a tense Oval Office meeting back in February. During the heated exchange, Zelenskyy and his team clashed with Trump and Vance over the US stance on Ukraine, with Vance accusing Zelenskyy of staging “propaganda tours” and misleading American officials about the realities of the war. The confrontation grew so intense that White House staff ultimately asked Zelenskyy to leave the Oval Office, effectively cutting the meeting short. The fallout from that encounter has only worsened relations, with Zelenskyy openly questioning whether members of the Trump administration are absorbing Russian “propaganda.”
What’s going on now: In an interview on 60 Minutes aired Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “It seems to me that the vice president is somehow justifying Putin’s actions,” Zelenskyy said, referencing Vance’s past comments that suggested Ukraine had misled American officials. He added, “You can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim.”
Zelenskyy used the interview to extend a direct invitation to Donald Trump, urging him to visit Ukraine and witness the destruction before making decisions about peace negotiations. “Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people—civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” Zelenskyy said in English. “Come, look, and then let’s move with a plan how to finish the war. You will understand with whom you have a deal. You will understand what Putin did.” He stressed that Ukraine would not stage anything for a visit, saying, “It will not be theater. You can go exactly where you want, in any city which [has] been under attacks.”
Zelenskyy also issued a warning about the broader consequences of the war, arguing that failure to stand against Putin could lead to a global catastrophe. “If we do not stand firm, [Putin] will advance further. It is not just idle speculation; the threat is real. Putin’s ultimate goal is to revive the Russian empire and reclaim territories currently under NATO protection. Considering all of this, I believe it could escalate into a world war.” He added, “There won’t be a safe place, there won’t be a safe place for anyone.” It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied any plans to go further than Ukraine, calling the claims “Western propaganda.”
Trump appeared to respond to Zelenskyy on Truth Social, taking a shot at CBS on Truth Social, distancing himself from the war and blaming President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy for its outbreak. “The War between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine,” Trump wrote. “I just got here, and for four years during my term, had no problem in preventing it from happening.” He accused Zelenskyy of doing “an absolutely horrible job in allowing the travesty to begin,” and dismissed a recent Russian strike that killed 34 people in Sumy, calling it “a mistake.” Trump claimed he is “working diligently to get the death and destruction to stop” and reiterated that the conflict “would never have happened” if the 2020 election “was not RIGGED.”
