Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
On February 28, Friday, in Washington, negotiations between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky ended in a dispute instead of signing an agreement on rare metals. Opinions among US Senate members and other American politicians on this matter were largely divided along party lines.
Republicans: The principle of "America first" in practice
House Speaker Mike Johnson said: "Today we saw an American president who puts America first in the Oval Office." "The days of taking advantage of and disrespecting America are over," he said.
Prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters: "What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don't know if we will meet with Zelensky again." In his opinion, the Ukrainian president needs to either "change" or "send someone to Washington who can work."
Victoria Spartz, born in the Ukrainian SSR and currently a representative of Indiana in the US Senate, stated that Zelensky "insulted the US president and the American people, causing great harm to the Ukrainian people." "This is not a theater stage, but a real war," said the Republican.
On the other hand, Congressman Don Bacon from the same party took a different position. "Some want to hide the truth, but we cannot ignore it. Russia is to blame in this war," said the Republican.
US Democrats: Moscow is celebrating now
"A celebration is taking place in the Kremlin," said Senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland while commenting on the outcome of the negotiations. According to him, Trump's and US Vice President Jay DeVence's "insulting Zelensky and putting on a show full of lies and disinformation" "even makes Putin feel embarrassed" and is "a disgrace for America."
"We cannot allow Trump to rewrite history or destroy decades of cooperation (with Ukraine)," said Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin. He expressed that he expects Zelensky to "sincerely apologize."
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts stated that the current president of the US "is viewing the destruction of democracy as a political spectacle, throwing Ukraine to the wolves and doing a favor to Putin."
Another Democrat, Ben Rhodes, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama administration, said: "Trump is turning the United States into an ultra-right, authoritarian, value-less oligarchy, which is closely linked to the world's autocrats."
