Washington:US President Donald Trump’s meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky began with exchanging compliments on Friday but turned into a fiery argument within minutes in a public blowup that had the world media in attendance at the White House. The Ukrainian delegation was then asked to leave the White House with the formal lunch with the President remaining untouched, reports said.The meeting – their first since Trump returned to power last month – started with handshakes and smiles but soon blew up when US Vice President JD Vance stressed the need for diplomacy to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war, which broke out after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in 2022.For four years, the United States of America had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough 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,” Vance said as he took a dig at the former US President Joe Biden.”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,” he added while responding to a question from a reporter. To this, Zelensky said if he could ask Vance a question.
