Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that an economic deal with Ukraine is not currently on the table after a heated exchange between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28.
“President Trump’s idea for this economic arrangement was to further intertwine the American people and Ukrainian people and show no daylight,” Bessent told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on March 2. “To show the Russian leadership that there was no daylight, and President Zelenskyy came into the Oval Office and tried to relitigate in front of the world the deal.”
During the meeting, Zelenskyy said that he would not accept a cease-fire without security guarantees from the United States. He then suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted to honor a potential peace agreement because he had broken a cease-fire agreement 25 times.
Vice President JD Vance said in response that it was disrespectful for Zelenskyy to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate the deal in front of the American media, before suggesting that such discussion should be held behind closed doors. Trump and Vance then accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for U.S. support during the three years of the war that has been ongoing since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
He also said the agreement is “not enough, and we need more than just that.” “A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine. We’ve been fighting for 3 years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side,” Zelenskyy said.
Bessent suggested that Zelenskyy’s remarks at the Oval Office indicated an unwillingness to negotiate with Russia and went against the United States’ efforts to bring the two countries into negotiation to end the war.
“What’s the use in having an economic agreement that’s going to be rendered moot if he wants the fighting to continue. President Trump wants a peace deal.”
When asked whether the economic deal with Ukraine was still on the table, Bessent said: “Not at present.”
“He’s got to say, ‘I want to make peace. I don’t want to fight a war any longer,’” the president told reporters on March 1. “His people are dying. He doesn’t have the cards, just so you understand it.”
Speaking to reporters on March 2, Zelenskyy suggested that he doesn’t think the failed meeting will impact the United States’s support for Ukraine.
“As regards salvaging the relationship, I think our relationship will continue,” Zelenskyy said.
He also said the disagreements over the potential deal should have been done behind closed doors.
“I do not think it’s right when such discussions are totally open,” he said. “The format of what happened, I don’t think it brought something positive or additional to us as partners.”
In an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier on Feb. 28 shortly after the White House meeting, Zelenskyy said he had no reason to apologize to Trump after their heated exchange.
“No, I respect the president and I respect American people,” Zelenskyy said in response to a question on whether he should apologize.
“I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad,” he added.
