Brian Snyder / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
The U.S. President's National Security Advisor Mike Walls stated that after the confrontation between Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, and Jay Di Vance in the White House, Trump's team concluded that negotiations could not continue "unanimously".
“We had a meeting where we were asked to step out of the press, and we told the president that we almost unanimously did not see how things could move forward after this insult in the Oval Office, and that any further actions would only lead to setbacks. And we conveyed this to President Zelensky and his team as well,” Walls said in an interview with Fox News.
This was some sort of a setup. It was absolutely incorrect. We had a wonderful atmosphere in the East Room [of the White House], both leaders were ready to sign a [deal] that would economically unite the U.S. and Ukraine. The crucial resources we needed, the economic investments they required — and this was after the British Prime Minister [Keir Starmer] stated that they were ready to send peacekeeping forces, and the French President [Emmanuel] Macron, who was also ready to send peacekeeping forces, and the current [U.S.] President discussed broader security guarantees with NATO Secretary General [Mark Ryutte].
According to Walls, the agreement signing "really should have been a positive moment for Ukraine," after which negotiations with Russia could proceed to end the war.
However, Zelensky chose "the wrong approach to try to do such things, the wrong time, and clearly the wrong president," Walls says. In his view, Zelensky has become accustomed to hearing that the U.S. will support Ukraine "as much as needed" and write checks from the previous U.S. President Joe Biden. "I think the [U.S.] president is very upset and openly angry because it is not clear whether Zelensky really wants to stop military actions," Walls added.
When asked if he believes Zelensky fully understood what happened as he was leaving the White House, Walls replied, "to be honest, no." "His team understood. His ambassador and his advisor were almost in tears, wanting this to move forward, but Zelensky was still arguing, and eventually I told him: 'Mr. President, time is not on your side on the battlefield, and from the perspective of the situation in the world, time is not on your side, and most importantly, the patience of the U.S. and taxpayers is not limitless,'" Walls said.
