Trump debated Zelensky live on air (video).

Trump clashed with Zelensky live on air (video)

During a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a dispute arose.

The argument started after Zelensky mentioned the need for security guarantees for Ukraine and actively involving Kyiv in the negotiation process. "Not negotiating with the Russians behind our backs."

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance intervened in the discussions between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, criticizing the Ukrainian leader.

“Don’t you see that you have problems? You are lacking people, you are lacking men,” – he stated to Zelensky.

In response, Zelensky remarked that Vance could not know this since he is "across the ocean" and invited him to come to Ukraine to see for himself.

Trump advised Zelensky to "be grateful" because he "doesn't have any cards in hand."

“You have no cards in hand, you are running out of military resources. You cannot tell us: ‘I don’t want to end the war, I want this, I want that.’ We are on the brink of World War III, but you do not respect the U.S.,”

To this, Zelensky replied:

“I didn’t come here to play cards.”

Trump:

“Your country is in big trouble… No, no, you can't speak right now. You are not winning. But you have a terribly good chance to come out of this okay because of us. You weren’t alone. We gave you through [our] foolish president 350 billion dollars. We provided you with military equipment... If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have ended in two weeks,” – he stated.

To this, Zelensky responded:

“It would have ended in three days; we’ve already heard that from Putin.”

The first (public) part of the meeting concluded with Trump stating that Zelensky was not sufficiently “grateful.” He added:

 

“This will be a great show for television.”