DONALD Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky wound up in a second “shouting match” after the US President insisted he agree to Russia’s terms for peace.
The two leaders reportedly locked heads on Friday as Zelensky pleaded with the US President for more military support.
The fiery exchange was reminiscent of the pair’s head-to-head in February when the US President laid into Zelensky for what he was wearing.
The Ukrainian President had travelled to Washington in a bid to secure the much-hyped Tomahawk weapons, which would give Ukraine the power to strike deep inside Russia.
Zelensky offered Trump “thousands of drones” in exchange for the missiles but was refused on the grounds these would drive a “dangerous escalation” in the war.
But the meeting reportedly grew so fraught, the US President dramatically pushed aside maps of Ukraine’s frontline and warned Zelensky that “Putin will destroy you”.
He also insisted the Ukrainian leader surrender the entire Donbas region to the tyrant and agree to his terms to end the bloody war, the Financial Times reports.
Zelensky reportedly replied: “Putin doesn’t want peace. That’s why we need pressure on him”.
Speaking from the White House Cabinet Room later, he declared: “President Trump has a big opportunity to end this war.”
He suggested the US could “have our thousands of drones” in exchange for the game-changing Tomahawk missiles, adding: “That’s where we can work together.”
Trump said: “Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over without talking about Tomahawks.”
Some believed Trump was poised to grant Zelensky the weapons, but a last-minute phone call yesterday between Trump and Putin cast major doubt.
Trump hailed the chat as “productive” and announced he would meet Putin in-person in Hungary within a fortnight.
The long-range missiles have a maximum range of 2,500km with warheads that weigh almost half a ton – and military experts say they would be a “game changer” for Kyiv.
Kyiv sees them as a critical deterrent — one capable of crippling Russian supply lines and destroying missile and drone factories far behind enemy lines.
The US president last met Russian dictator Putin in August for a grand summit in Alaska.
Following the meeting, Putin was expected to meet Zelensky face-to-face for a proposed bilateral and trilateral summit – but he then pulled out.
Plans for peace talks to end the bloodshed once and for all have since stalled, and Putin has only ramped up his devastating attacks on Ukraine.
Yesterday, The Russian dictator ordered brutal new strikes across four regions – Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia – pounding civilian targets and torching a food warehouse.
Explosions ripped through Ukraine’s heartland overnight.
Zaporizhzhia was hit three times, and in Poltava, a civilian food depot went up in flames.
Residential and administrative buildings were flattened in the ferocious bombardment.
In the Black Sea, Ukraine’s navy blew up a Russian marine drone “threatening civilian shipping” – dramatic footage captured the moment the Kremlin’s floating bomb erupted in a fireball.
Trump insists he can broker a ceasefire – but his balancing act is showing strain. He praised Ukraine’s dogged defence, saying: “I don’t know why he continues with this war, he should have won that war in one week.
“He just doesn’t want to end that war. And I think it’s making him look very bad.”
