Anger and hatred in Washington

On Friday, I told a conference that some Western media still use the Kremlin’s talking points while covering Russia’s war in Ukraine. I had no idea that on the same day I would hear all those talking points – live on air – delivered by the US president.

Having watched the video of Donald Trump cordially welcoming Volodymyr Zelensky in person at the West Wing entrance to the White House, I expected a short briefing, followed by a closed door meeting and a press conference. So after the customary greetings I turned to social media, where Ukrainian journalists and commentators had spent the previous days discussing the implications of a possible mineral deal between the US and Ukraine.

“Oh my God…” “What is going on?” “Shocking.” When my friends started posting messages like these online, I returned to the live footage. I saw Trump and Zelensky arguing in front of cameras in real time. It looked like something between a black comedy and a mafia movie.

“You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump told Zelensky. “You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”

This was extraordinary. For the last three years, Russian president Vladimir Putin and his minion Dmitry Medvedev have threatened the world with nuclear weapons. Now the US president was accusing the president of Ukraine – which gave up its nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world, more than 30 years ago – of “gambling with World War III”.

“You sign the deal, or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out,” Trump said. Along with JD Vance, who called Zelensky “disrespectful” and “unthankful”, Trump showed he did not care for democratic norms or western values. All he cared about was a deal.

Knowing what Trump has previously said about Zelensky and Ukraine, I was not too surprised with what he said – but still taken aback at how he said it. There was no place for respect and diplomacy within the Oval Office, and, I assume, within Trump’s mind neither.

I was shocked at how bluntly both Trump and Vance disrespected not just Zelensky but the people of Ukraine, which they see as a bargaining chip to make a deal with Russia – with or without security guarantees. Vance and Trump: two boxers squaring up to their own ally in the ring.

When Zelensky told JD Vance the short history of Russia violating peace deals with Ukraine, and asked Vance what kind of “diplomacy” he was talking about, I applauded him. But Vance, accusing Zelensky for “bringing people on propaganda tour”, did not show any sign of understanding the real situation in Ukraine – nor did he seem to want to.

“What if Putin breaks the ceasefire?” asked a high and soft voice from the press pack. I recognised it as the voice of my old journalism school mate, the BBC Ukrainian’s correspondent Myroslava Petsa, who knows very well what the evacuation during the war and military service looked like.

Trump’s answer was astonishing. “What, if anything? What if the bomb drops on your head right now? OK, what if they broke it? I don’t know,” he said. He added that Putin “respects him” – as opposed to Obama and Biden – and Putin “wants to make a deal”.

“We gave you through this stupid president … military equipment... if you didn’t have our military equipment this war would have been over in two weeks,” Trump said in a pointed jab at Biden. I wonder, did he regret that equipment being given to Ukraine?

As he told my former colleague Myroslava, “we are not looking forward to sending a lot of arms, we’re looking forward to getting the war finished”. Which clearly meant, Ukraine’s security was not a worry to him.

In 1994, the US, the UK and Russia signed the Budapest memorandum, providing security guarantees to Ukraine which in turn gave up its nuclear arsenal. In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine. In 2025, Ukraine’s largest military ally is led by a president who doesn’t want to be an ally anymore. With that, on Friday, I thought I witnessed the final dismantling of the post-WWII world order. Trump now looked like Putin’s closest friend.

After Zelensky left the White House, the Ukrainian businessman and banker Oleg Gorokhovsky opened a fundraiser “for nukes”. Ukrainians donated $649,000 in less than a day. “Of course, it was a joke,” Gorokhovsky wrote on his Facebook later, adding that all that money will buy drones for the Ukrainian army. As Russia’s army continues to attack Ukraine, drones are in high demand.

Nina Kuryata is Europe and defence editor at Tortoise and former head of the BBC’s Ukrainian service.