The White House denied having orchestrated an ambush against Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blaming the Ukrainian leader for the historic confrontation that ruined the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.
"The idea that it was an ambush is absolutely and categorically false," emphasized Mike Waltz, Trump's National Security Advisor, in an interview with Fox News. According to Waltz, the White House had prepared a favorable environment for signing an agreement between Ukraine and the United States regarding natural resources, but Zelenskyy blew up the meeting.
The senior official accused Zelenskyy of choosing to confront Trump, despite prior warnings, and of failing to show clarity regarding Ukraine's desire to end the war. "He took the wrong approach... definitely with the wrong president to try to do that," added Waltz.
According to the White House's version, the meeting was proceeding harmoniously until Zelenskyy adopted a confrontational attitude. The Democratic opposition viewed the unprecedented discussion in front of cameras as a planned ambush intended to humiliate Zelenskyy and favor Putin.
Tension began to rise when a host criticized Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit, which caused laughter among those present. The meeting derailed when Zelenskyy and Vance discussed security guarantees against Russia, a debate that Trump joined.
After the altercation, Zelenskyy was expelled from the White House, and the signing of the agreement on minerals and the planned press conference between the two leaders were canceled.
