The controversy that occurred during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington was pre-planned by the US leadership, says Germany's future chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“I think the reaction to Zelensky's words during this meeting in the Oval Office was not spontaneous, but rather a planned provocation,” says the German politician. Merz noted that he had watched the meeting's video recording several times and was “astonished by the tone of the conversation.” In his opinion, all of this “brought no benefit.”
At the same time, Merz added that such rhetoric aligns with the overall behavior of the new US administration. “What we observed in Washington has a certain consistency with a series of events that have occurred in recent weeks, including the participation of the American delegation in the Munich Security Conference,” he said. The dispute between Zelensky and Trump occurred on February 28 in front of journalists. It began after US Vice President Jay Di Vens made a statement about softening the approach towards Vladimir Putin to resolve the war diplomatically. Zelensky opposed playing games with the Russian president, reminding that he had violated several agreements.
In response, Trump and Vens criticized Zelensky, accusing him of wanting to continue the war and disrespecting America. As a result, the meeting turned into a controversy, and the Ukrainian president was forced to leave the White House without signing a deal on natural resources.
After that, many Western media wrote about the provocation against Zelensky. The New York Times columnist, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman emphasized that it was a “pre-planned trap.” The Financial Times article mentioned that “Zelensky was lured into a trap to be humiliated.” The Atlantic magazine analyst, retired professor of the US Naval War College Tom Nichols, blamed Vens for the emergence of the controversy, noting that he “played the role of a moderator in a talk show.” The article described the vice president as “an unreliable person trying to assert his significance in serious times.”
Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa criticized Trump — he sent a letter to the US president. “We watched your conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with horror and disgust. It is insulting to expect that Ukraine should be grateful for the material support the US is providing in the war against Russia. Gratitude should be expressed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who are shedding their blood to defend the values of the free world,” Wałęsa wrote.
The White House is waiting for Zelensky to apologize. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a similar call, emphasizing that the Ukrainian president should not “read a report about diplomacy not working.” Zelensky himself stated that it is possible to maintain relations between Kyiv and Washington, but he did not apologize. The head of state also expressed his readiness to sign a deal with the US on rare metals and to move towards resolving the war diplomatically.
