Minnesota senior U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) says she was appalled at what happened during last Friday's Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Klobuchar was among a group in Washington that met with Zelenskyy prior to his meeting with Trump, and she said the Ukrainian was "legitimately excited" to meet again with U.S. leaders.
Klobuchar tells Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that despite the blowup, she's not giving up on reaching a peaceful ending to the violence in Ukraine with the U.S. involved.
"This weekend was a very positive meeting with the European leaders, and they've come forward with a plan," Klobuchar said. "They're gonna meet again Thursday. Hopefully, then they can bring this to President Trump and we can have a reset as the Secretary of State has said."
Rubio said during an interview with ABC News' "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that he hoped efforts to end the devastating war in the country could be "reset."
Klobuchar says President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance undermined an American ally with actions last week in the White House and in this situation, peace through strength is not the answer. She says despite her anger at what took place, she's still hopeful.
"Despite political differences I may have with President Trump and Vice President Vance, if there's a way to get back to the table, we've got to find that way," the senator tells WCCO. "And that's what I've been talking (about), I've already talked to some of the Republican senators and plan on talking to more today."
Klobuchar expressed optimism that European leaders are planning to meet again on Thursday, and that Zelenskyy has said he supports the minerals deal, a deal that Klobuchar says is a good one for the U.S. despite other Democrats who have been critical of it.
Republicans join with Trump in lashing out at Ukraine
Meanwhile, President Trump’s senior aides and allies lashed out at the Ukrainian leader from Washington as he attended a European summit Sunday in London to rally international support for his military’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Following Trump’s lead, White House officials and Republicans in Congress used news show appearances to demand that Zelenskyy display more gratitude for U.S. support and an openness to potential war-ending concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some suggested Zelenskyy should consider resigning even as Ukrainians rally around him.
But they offered little clarity as to what Zelenskyy and Ukraine could do after Friday’s Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him before canceling the signature of an economic agreement between Washington and Kyiv. The dispute leaves the future of that relationship in question, as well as the prospects for ending a conflict that began when the Kremlin invaded in February 2022.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said the contentious meeting has led to “a huge rift in the relationship” and she took issue with Zelenskyy telling Fox News afterward that he did not think he did anything wrong.
“There’s going to have to be a rebuilding of any kind of interest in good faith negotiations, I think, before President Trump is going to be willing to reengage on this,” she said.
Zelenskyy says war is not close to over
Zelenskyy says a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “is still very, very far away," adding that he expects to keep receiving American support despite his recent fraught relations with Trump.
“I think our relationship (with the U.S.) will continue, because it’s more than an occasional relationship,” Zelenskyy said late Sunday, referring to Washington’s support for the past three years of war.
“I believe that Ukraine has a strong enough partnership with the United States of America” to keep aid flowing, he said at a briefing in Ukrainian before leaving London.
Zelenskyy publicly was upbeat despite recent diplomatic upheaval between Western countries that have been helping Ukraine with military hardware and financial aid. The turn of events is unwelcome for Ukraine, whose understrength army is having a hard time keep bigger Russian forces at bay.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.