# Trump-Zelensky Oval Office Meeting On **February 28, 2025**, [[Volodymyr Zelensky]] came to the White House to sign a deal giving the United States a share of Ukraine's mineral wealth. In front of the press pool, [[Donald Trump]] and Vice President [[JD Vance]] turned the meeting into a public dressing-down. The deal was not signed, the joint press conference was cancelled, and Zelensky left. Within a week the United States had paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. ## What happened The clash began when Vance said the war needed "the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country." Zelensky, who had watched Russia break earlier ceasefires, asked: "What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you asking me about? What do you mean?" Vance told him it was "disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media," and asked: "Have you said thank you once, this entire meeting?" Zelensky answered: "A lot of times. Even today." Trump joined in. > [!quote] Donald Trump to Volodymyr Zelensky, February 28, 2025 > "You don't have the cards right now." … "You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III." The planned signing and press conference were called off, and Zelensky's motorcade left the White House soon after; a White House official told reporters the Ukrainian delegation had been told to leave. ## The pause In the days that followed, the United States suspended military aid to Ukraine and stopped sharing intelligence with it; CIA Director [[John Ratcliffe]] confirmed the intelligence pause on March 5. Both resumed on **March 11, 2025**, after talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Secretary of State [[Marco Rubio]] and national security adviser [[Mike Waltz]] secured Ukraine's acceptance of a proposed "immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire." Russia did not accept it; in a call with Trump on March 18, Putin agreed only to a 30-day pause in strikes on energy infrastructure (see [[Trump-Putin Calls Timeline]]). ## The minerals deal The deal was eventually signed on **April 30, 2025**, by Treasury Secretary [[Scott Bessent]] and Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. It set up a joint reconstruction investment fund, split 50–50, covering minerals, oil and gas, with the United States getting a first right to buy, and no Ukrainian debt to the U.S. See [[Critical Minerals]]. ## Why it matters The meeting showed, on camera, which side the new administration expected to make concessions. It came two weeks after Trump's first call with [[Vladimir Putin]] ([[Trump-Putin Call 2025-02-12]]) and four days after the United States voted with Russia against Ukraine's resolution at the UN. The aid and intelligence pause that followed was the first use of U.S. support as leverage on Kyiv rather than on Moscow, and a template for the threat to cut intelligence in October 2026. See [[Russia Sanctions Relief Ledger]]. ## See Also - [[Russia Sanctions Relief Ledger]] · [[Trump-Russia Arc Timeline]] · [[Ukraine War Timeline]] - [[Volodymyr Zelensky]] · [[JD Vance]] · [[Anchorage Summit 2025]]