Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance went nothing like expected. The Ukrainian President somewhat stormed out without signing the proposed minerals deal after facing a tag team attack from the Republican duo. Apart from the Oscars night, their disastrous White House encounter is all anyone is talking about now. From Zelenskyy being criticized for his attire to Vance grilling him for deploying soldiers, chaos descended quickly at the Oval Office on Friday.

In front of a full room, when the Ukrainian President accused Trump of not understanding the gravity of the situation, his U.S. counterpart lashed out. “You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel…you don’t have the cards right now. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people!” he said. Trump further added, “You’re gambling with World War Three! And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country – this country.”

Following this, Volodymyr Zelenskyy abruptly left the meeting, forcing the White House to cancel the scheduled press conference. Afterwards, the Ukraine leader met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the meeting went better than his White House hangout. Ahead of leaving London on March 2, Zelenskyy spoke to the reporters at Stansted Airport. Reflecting on his blazing row with Donald Trump, he insisted that he is “ready to sign” the minerals deal but only wants one thing, and that is “the Ukrainian position to be heard.”

Zelensky says he’s ‘ready to sign’ minerals deal and says he just wanted Ukraine to ‘be heard’ 👀.

Speaking to reporters at Stansted Airport before he left the UK, Zelenskyy said he ‘just want[s] the Ukrainian position to be heard’ when he was asked about the disastrous meeting… pic.twitter.com/43OB0wrQeg

— Elijah 🇺🇬🇺🇲 (@RealDigitalVybz) March 3, 2025

According to Daily Mail, he lamented, “We want our partners to remember who the aggressor is in the war….we need peace, not endless war.” Zelenskyy continued, “In the near future, all of us in Europe will shape our common positions — the lines we must achieve and the lines we cannot compromise on. These positions will be presented to our partners in the United States.”

Meanwhile, following Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged him to make amends with the American President. Lord Mandelson, Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., echoed Rutte, saying, “After what happened on Friday, it’s clear that we need to bring the United States and Ukraine together again,” according to Telegraph. Mandelson went on, “I think the first thing that President Zelenskyy can do is to make clear his commitment to the initiative that President Trump is taking.”

“I do think it would be a good idea if he signed an economic and commercial deal put forward by the United States.” He continued, “The reason I say that quite apart from the economic gain that Ukraine will derive from that, it will also give the United States a stake in Ukraine’s future.” The official explained that this deal would ensure that U.S. commercial interests and the country’s individual citizens had a ground there, serving a greater purpose for the United States, which was to protect Ukraine while also intervening to prevent any future war with Russia. “That’s what I want to see, that’s what we all want to see.” He was referring to the deal with Ukraine to hand over a share of rare earths to the U.S. in exchange for aid.