President Donald Trump said Ukraine "may not survive" its war with Russia regardless of whether the United States continues its support during an interview with FOX News' Maria Bartiromo Sunday (March 9) morning.
“Well, it may not survive anyway,” Trump said while deending his decision to decrease support for Ukraine, despite concerns from other European allies.
“We have some weaknesses with Russia,” he added. “It takes two. Look, it was not going to happen — that war and it happened. So now we’re stuck with this mess.”
CIA director John Ratcliffe confirmed last week that most intelligence sharing with Ukraine had been paused and the Trump administration stopped aid to Ukraine following a heated exchange between the president, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.
Vance attempted to explain the importance of engaging in diplomacy to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, at which point Zelensky asked if he could follow up, which led to the vice president describing Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, prior failed peace agreements, and a ceasefire violated by the Kremlin in 2019 as examples.
“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?” Zelensky asked at the time.
“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded. “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media…You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Vance then accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for American aid and questioned whether the Ukrainian president ever said thank you during the ongoing meeting. Zelensky has publicly thanked the United States for its support multiple times on his X account, as well as during an address to Congress in December 2022.
Vance claimed that he tried to defuse the situation and wanted to have the conversation in private while speaking to Hannity.
“The president was like, nope, actually, I don’t want to have it in private anymore. I want to have this actual conversation in public for the American people to see,” Vance said.
Trump claimed that Zelensky was "gambling with World War III" during a back and forth exchange as the rare earth minerals deal the two world leaders were supposed to sign fell through when the Ukrainian president was asked to leave the White House. Trump later claimed Zelensky could come back "when he is ready for Peace" in a post shared on his Truth Social account.