Trump allies pressure Zelensky to change course or resign
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking at a Feb 28 meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Top Republicans aligned with US President Donald Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 2 to change his position on the war with Russia or step aside, ramping up pressure on the Ukrainian leader after a contentious White House meeting
European leaders gave a show of support
The blow-up, which showcased Mr Vance in an attack-dog role for his boss, stunned leaders around the world and raised questions about the next phase of the war, which Russia started by invading Ukraine three years ago, and Mr Trump’s efforts to end it.
Mr Zelensky argued in the meeting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not honoured a 2019 ceasefire agreement and described him as a killer and a terrorist.
Mr Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said it was not clear to the administration that Mr Zelensky was ready to negotiate an end of the war. Mr Waltz underscored Mr Trump’s goal for a permanent peace between Moscow and Kyiv involving territorial concessions in exchange for European-led security guarantees.
Asked whether Mr Trump wanted Mr Zelensky to resign, Mr Waltz told CNN’s State Of The Union programme: “We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians and end this war.”
Mr Waltz added: “If it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.”
US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a top Trump ally and also an advocate for Ukraine, questioned whether the United States could still work with Mr Zelensky following the White House clash in remarks to reporters on Feb 28.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson issued a similar message on March 2.
“Something has to change. Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that,” the top congressional Republican told NBC’s Meet The Press programme, referring to Mr Zelensky.
“I’d like to see Putin defeated, frankly. He is an adversary of the United States. But in this conflict, we’ve got to bring an end to this war.”
Members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, including Mr Steve Witkoff (standing, left) and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz (standing, centre) in the Oval Office.
PHOTO: DOUG MILLS/NYTIMES
‘Absolutely shameful’
US Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont aligned with the Democrats, dismissed suggestions that Mr Zelensky should resign.
“I think that is a horrific suggestion. Mr Zelensky is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who invaded his country,” Mr Sanders said on Meet The Press. Republican US Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said on the same programme that he did not agree with calls for Mr Zelensky to resign.
Democrats have expressed disgust over the tenor of Mr Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut lambasted the White House for drawing closer to Russia than to fellow democracies.
“It is absolutely shameful what is happening right now. The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin,” he said on CNN’s State Of The Union programme. “The entire pretext for that meeting... was an attempt to rewrite history in order to sign a deal with Putin that hands Putin Ukraine. That is disastrous for US national security.”
Mr Waltz called it “absolutely false” that the Oval Office meeting was an ambush, and the Trump administration put the onus on the Ukrainians to shift their position.
“We’ll be ready to re-engage when they’re ready to make peace,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on ABC’s This Week programme. He said he had not spoken to Mr Zelensky or Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha since the Feb 28 meeting.
“No one here is claiming Vladimir Putin is going to get the Nobel Peace Prize this year,” Mr Rubio said, while arguing that negotiations with Moscow were required. “You’re not going to bring them to the table if you’re calling them names, if you’re being antagonistic.”
Democratic US Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota said on This Week that she was “appalled” by the clash in the Oval Office, and that she had met Mr Zelensky before he went to the White House on Feb 28.
“There is still an opening here” for a peace deal, she said. REUTERS
