'It’s amazing what comes out through emotion': US, world leaders react to tense Trump-Zelensky meeting
1. President Trump: ‘Zelensky not ready for peace’
The 47th president issued a statement immediately after the fiery meeting in which he declared, “President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved.”
Describing the meeting as “very meaningful,” Trump said, “much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Trump’s statement came after a meeting in which he told Zelensky, who commented that every country at war has problems and that the U.S. would likely feel that some day too, that the Ukrainian president was “in no position to dictate what we're going to feel."
"You're not in a good position ... you're gambling with the lives of millions of people; you're gambling with World War III," Trump told Zelensky. "What you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's backed you."