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What happened in the Oval Office on 28 February 2025?
Summary
A look back at a White House meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy that ended early and without a signed minerals agreement.
What went wrong when Ukraine's president met his US counterpart in Washington? On 28 February 2025, US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks in the Oval Office at the White House. The meeting was televised live and was expected to end with the signing of the Ukraine–United States Mineral Resources Agreement.
Instead, the talks turned into a heated exchange and ended early. As reported at the time, the diplomatic clash meant the minerals agreement was not signed. During the final ten minutes, Trump and Vance repeatedly criticised Zelenskyy, at times drowning out his voice.
Security guarantees off the table
Trump rejected any discussion of specific security guarantees for Ukraine. He was interested solely in discussing the minerals agreement. The meeting had been arranged to cover continued US support for Ukraine in repelling Russia's invasion, but it closed without a clear resolution.
Media outlets described the encounter as an unprecedented public confrontation between an American president and a foreign head of state.
The day before
The clash followed a separate meeting on 27 February 2025, when Trump met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington. Their talks included the Russo-Ukrainian War peace negotiations. Starmer also presented a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump to visit London later that year.
Taken together, the two days placed the peace negotiations at the centre of Washington's diplomacy. The second ended with the minerals deal unsigned and the question of security guarantees unresolved.
