The US Secretary of State Senator Marco Rubio said Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should apologize for a tense Oval Office exchange with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, which resulted in the collapse of a planned economic partnership between the two nations.
Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Rubio criticized Zelenskyy’s approach during the high-stakes meeting.
“There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic,” Rubio said. “I think he should apologize for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did.”
Zelenskyy, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier later that evening, declined to apologize to Trump.
Zelenskyy traveled to Washington, D.C., intending to sign an economic partnership agreement granting the U.S. access to critical minerals in Ukraine. Trump has long maintained that such a deal should be part of any continued American military support for Ukraine.
However, tensions flared during the meeting, and the Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave the White House after a heated exchange.
The confrontation escalated when Zelenskyy insisted on U.S. security guarantees to prevent Russia from resuming hostilities after a potential peace agreement. He also reaffirmed his refusal to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he labeled a “killer and terrorist.”
Vice President JD Vance, who was present at the meeting, praised Trump for negotiating directly with Russia to end the war, despite Ukraine and other European nations being excluded from the discussions.
Zelenskyy pushed back, arguing that Russia’s past actions proved it to be an unreliable diplomatic partner. Vance countered by calling the Ukrainian president “disrespectful” toward Trump.
Rubio argued that Zelenskyy should not have insisted on an in-person meeting to finalize the deal and accused him of undermining Trump’s ability to engage with Russia.
“Don’t come here and create a scenario where you are going to start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn’t going to work,” Rubio said, adding that the Ukrainian leader’s public remarks could jeopardize future peace talks.
As U.S.-Ukraine relations face new uncertainty, the fallout from the aborted economic deal raises concerns about the future of American support for Kyiv amid ongoing tensions with Moscow.
