Joe Yates
Just three days after President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, the US has announced it has paused all aid to war-torn Ukraine.
Having invited the Ukrainian leader to the White House on Friday (February 28), to discuss possible solutions to an end to the Eastern European war that has been raging since Russia invaded his country, the meeting soon turned hostile.
Shortly after the trio sat down in front of the cameras, Vance insisted that Zelenskyy was treating both Trump and the US with disrespect and persistently called on the Ukrainian to 'thank' Trump.
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The fiery sit-down saw the 78-year-old Republican accuse his European counterpart of 'gambling with World War 3', while Zelenskyy questioned whether either Vance or Trump had seen what President Vladimir Putin had done to his homeland.
He asked: "Have you ever been to Ukraine? Seen what problems we have? Come once."
On the back of the belligerent meeting, two US officials have stated that the Trump administration is pausing all military aid to Ukraine.
“The president has been clear that he is focused on peace. We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well," a White House official said per NBC News yesterday (March 3).
"We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
In January, the State Department announced that the US had provided the equivalent of $65.9 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country three years ago - on February 24, 2022.
During the heated meeting on Friday (February 28), the Ukrainian president reflects on how 'during the war, everyone has problems', and just because they don't 'feel it now', doesn't mean they won't in 'the future'.
Trump then butted in, arguing he's 'trying to solve a problem' and said Zelenskyy is in 'no position' to tell them 'what [they're] going to feel'.
Raising his voice, he continued: "You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. We're going to feel very good. We're going to feel very good and very strong. You're right now, not in a very good position, you've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position."
Trump warned: "You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards ... You're gambling with the lives of millions of people! You're gambling with World War Three! You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country - this country."