Ukraine’s president had been hoping to leave the White House on Friday after positive talks with Donald Trump, capped with the signing of a minerals deal giving the US a real stake in his country’s future, if not an outright security guarantee.

Instead Volodymyr Zelensky faced an extraordinary dressing down in front of the world’s media, after President Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance demanded that he show more gratitude for years of US support.

The Ukrainian president pushed back at suggestions from his more powerful partners that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Vladimir Putin. They responded that he was being “disrespectful”.

Zelensky was eventually told to leave the White House early before he and Trump could even take the stage for a scheduled news conference.

And the minerals deal, which had been trailed and praised by both sides this week, was left unsigned. “Come back when you’re ready for peace,” Trump wrote on social media shortly before Zelensky’s car pulled away.

Source: BBC