Putin allies rejoice after heated Trump-Zelensky meeting at White House
Moscow: Russian state media and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin took a victory lap after US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance berated Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday.
Zelensky’s White House visit came amid high tensions with the US over Trump’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
At their meeting on Friday, Trump accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” and warned him, “You have no right to dictate what we should feel. You are gambling with World War III.”
“I have empowered you to be a tough guy. You either make a deal, or we’re out. You don’t have the cards,” Trump said.
The interaction sparked fury from American observers but was celebrated almost immediately by Russian state media outlets and supporters of Putin.
Deputy head of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, also a former Russian President, wrote on Telegram that US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine a “strong slap on the wrist”.
“For the first time, Trump told the cocaine clown the truth to his face: the Kyiv regime is playing with the third world war. And the ungrateful pig received a strong slap on the wrist from the owners of the pigsty. This is useful. But it’s not enough – we must stop military aid to the Nazi machine,” Medvedev said.
He added that US President Donald Trump is right about the Kyiv regime “gambling with WWIII”.
The state-controlled media outlet RT characterised the Trump-Zelensky meeting as a dressing down, writing on X: “Zelensky sits with hands between legs as US President and VP hammer him.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was a miracle that Trump and Vice-President JD Vance managed to restrain themselves from hitting Zelensky.
“I think Zelensky’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support,” she wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund called the heated confrontation in the Oval Office “historic” on X.
Dmitriev was one of Moscow’s negotiators in the Russian-American talks held on February 18 in Saudi Arabia.
While European leaders rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an outpouring of support, Hungary’s Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on the other hand, praised and thanked US President Donald Trump.
Orban said that Trump stood “bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest.”
“Strong men make peace, weak men make war,” Orban wrote on X.
Volodymyr Zelensky is interested in provocations leading to mass deaths of civilians following his clash with US President Donald Trump in Washington, head of Russia’s Agency for International Humanitarian Cooperation Yevgeny Primakov said.
“Everyone saw everything. I would just draw attention to what is in the nature of the Kiev regime: provocations, bloody provocations. Right now Zelensky and his associates are interested in provocations leading to mass deaths of peaceful civilians, maybe like never before,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to Primakov, Kyiv has few ways to save face.
“To spill a lot of innocent blood at once and then blame it on Russia is one of the easiest ones,” he said.
The official also did not rule out staged mishaps.
“They really need it now. And so do the Brits,” he said.
Russia is trying to develop dialogue with everyone, including the US, from a position of respect and mutual benefit, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told media before the Trump-Zelensky meeting at the White House.
“We want to build dialogue not only with the US, but with all countries from a position of mutual respect and mutual benefit,” Peskov said, when asked how dialogue with US leader Donald Trump should be led, given that he is reproached for trying to talk to everyone, not only with Russian President Vladimir Putin, from a position of strength.
The Kremlin spokesman did not agree that it makes sense to build cooperation only from the perspective of truth, which is different for everyone.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky met with Trump at the White House. Their televised exchange, with reporters in attendance, suddenly unravelled into a shouting match, with Trump scolding Zelensky for being disrespectful to the US, and Vice-President J.D. Vance saying Zelensky didn’t ever say a “thank you” for all the support provided to Kyiv. A news conference scheduled to follow the meeting was cancelled, and Trump posted a statement to Truth Social, telling off Zelensky for being disrespectful and not ready for peace.
