Alpha1Nine :funkwhale: :sofia:<p><a href="https://aus.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> & <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Vance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vance</span></a> began to berate <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Zelensky" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Zelensky</span></a> in front of the press after he pointed out that <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Putin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Putin</span></a> has a track record of breaking agreements — a problem for an administration that believes it can bring a quick end to <a href="https://aus.social/tags/5Russia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>5Russia</span></a>’s bloody war of <a href="https://aus.social/tags/aggression" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aggression</span></a>.</p><p>For Zelensky, Putin’s <a href="https://aus.social/tags/untrustworthiness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>untrustworthiness</span></a> as a negotiating partner is a particularly sore point. He won Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election on a campaign of bringing peace to the country, and met with Putin afterwards in an effort to negotiate an end to what was then a comparatively small-scale war.</p><p>“We signed an exchange of prisoners, but [Putin] didn’t exchange prisoners. What kind of diplomacy are you speaking about?” Zelensky asked, adding that Putin had broken a ceasefire by launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.</p><p>Vance then replied that he was “talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.”</p><p>Vance then threw in some red meat for Trump, telling Zelensky: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office & try to litigate this in front of the American media.”</p><p>Vance added that Ukraine has manpower problems, & that Zelensky should be “thanking” Trump.</p><p>After another back-and-forth, Vance repeated the point: “Do you think that its respectful to come into the Oval Office of the United States America & attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”</p><p>Once Vance made it about Trump’s ego, there was no going back.</p><p>“You’re right now not in a very good position,” Trump told Zelensky at one point.</p><p>Vance continued to pour fuel on the fire:</p><p>“Have you said thank you once? This entire meeting? No,” he said. “In this entire meeting have you said thank you? You went to Pennsylvania & campaigned for the opposition in October.”</p><p>From there, Trump lost it.</p><p>“Your country is in big trouble,” he said, adding later: “It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.”</p><p>After the meeting, Trump said on Truth Social that Zelensky had “disrespected” him & could come back to the White House once “he is ready for peace.”</p><p>If the past is any track record, that means demanding that Zelensky do the one thing he refused to do in the Oval Office on Friday: <a href="https://aus.social/tags/capitulate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>capitulate</span></a>.<br> </p><p><a href="https://aus.social/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USPol</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>auspol</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/RussianAsset" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RussianAsset</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/PutinsPuppet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PutinsPuppet</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/RESIST" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RESIST</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-and-vance-ambush-zelensky-in-prelude-to-betrayal" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">talkingpointsmemo.com/news/tru</span><span class="invisible">mp-and-vance-ambush-zelensky-in-prelude-to-betrayal</span></a></p>