After a row at the White House in February, the US Vice President J.D. Vance wanted to find a replacement for the "problematic" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. To do this, he called the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — current Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom — Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The Guardian writes about this, citing its own sources.
According to them, Vanceʼs team tried to contact Zaluzhnyi "through various diplomatic and other channels", but the Ukrainian ambassador, after consulting with Zelenskyʼs chief of staff, refused to answer the call.
One of the publicationʼs sources close to Zaluzhnyi said that it was "a demonstrative display of unity at one of the worst moments for Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion".
"Many of his supporters did not understand why he did this. But this was his principled position: Ukraine has been humiliated, and we must be united," the publicationʼs interlocutor said.
A fight in the Oval Office
During the Ukrainian presidentʼs visit to the Oval Office on February 28, J.D. Vance repeatedly interrupted the presidentsʼ conversation and accused the Ukrainian president of ingratitude. When Zelensky asked him if he had been to Ukraine, Vance said that he had "seen everything in the stories".
In general, the Oval Office was tense at the time. Trump and Zelensky began to argue and escalated their conversation. It all started with the Ukrainian presidentʼs words about the need to provide Ukraine with security guarantees and actively include Kyiv in the negotiation process.
"You have no right to tell us what to do," Zelensky said.
Trump started talking about destroyed Ukrainian cities and the shortage of men in Ukraine. To which Zelensky responded that the American leader should come to Ukraine and check.
"You should be grateful. You donʼt have the cards in your hands," Trump said, once again recalling that the US allegedly gave Ukraine $350 million in aid.
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