President Zelensky left the Oval Office under a cloud yesterday after a fractious meeting with Donald Trump and JD Vance, and has resisted calls to resign.
Republican politicians have been lining up to criticise the Ukrainian leader, with Senator Lindsey Graham calling on the war leader to leave office or “change”.
In an interview with Fox, Zelensky dismissed the veteran senator’s intervention. Asked whether he would leave office following the spat in the White House, Zelensky said: “No, this decision can only be done by the people of Ukraine.”
US Secretary of State Macro Rubio said of Zelensky was also critical of the Ukrainian leader: “There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic.”
“When you start talking about that aggressively – and the president is a deal maker, he made deals his entire life – you’re not going to get people to the table,” he says.
Rubio then adds: “You start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t.”
After Mr Zelensky asked Vice-President Vance how he could engage in diplomatic efforts with Putin, given the Russian dictator has broken previous agreements since the 2014 incursion into eastern Ukraine, Trump and his second-in-command took turns berating the Ukrainian leader.
The President accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three”, while Vance demanded that he thank America for its support.
