Trump-Zelenskiy clash divides US Republicans, dims aid prospects

WASHINGTON: An angry White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump divided the U.S. president’s fellow Republicans and dimmed prospects that Congress will approve any further aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

Some Republicans who had long supported Ukraine lashed out at Zelenskiy after Friday’s exchange, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader before the world’s media, accusing him of disrespect.

Senator Lindsey Graham called for Zelenskiy to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelenskiy and a dozen senators.

“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskiy again,” Graham, a close Trump ally, told reporters as he left the White House after the clash, which drove relations with Kyiv’s most important wartime ally to a new low.

“He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,” the South Carolina senator said.

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Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted.”

But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.

New York Representative Mike Lawler, in a post on X, called the Oval Office meeting “a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine — an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security cooperation.”

Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, threw his support behind Kyiv.

“A bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” he said in a statement.

Neither of the Republican lawmakers criticized Trump or Vance.

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Minerals deal

Zelenskiy was in Washington to sign an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s rich natural resources with the United States.

The Ukrainian leader had seen the meeting with Trump and Vance as an opportunity to persuade the U.S. not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war with Moscow’s smaller neighbor. Instead, Zelenskiy was told to leave and the agreement was left unsigned.

Kyiv’s backers had hoped the deal would help win more support from Trump’s Republicans - who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives - for future aid.

Congress has approved $175 billion in assistance since Putin launched his full-scale invasion three years ago, but the last measure passed in April, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House.

Even then, congressional Republicans slow-walked the bill under pressure from candidate Trump, who has been skeptical of further military aid to Ukraine, leading to delays in delivering weapons that put Ukrainian troops on the back foot in the battlefield.

If Trump, the party leader, had skin in the game and was promoting a “very big” minerals deal he had negotiated, analysts said, it would likely have rallied Republican support for Ukraine aid.

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Some Republicans who have advocated for assisting Ukraine said they hoped relations could be rebuilt.

Representative Michael McCaul, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he still hoped for a real and lasting peace that ensures Ukraine would be free from further Russian aggression.

“I also urge President Zelensky to sign the mineral deal immediately,” the Texas lawmaker posted on X. “It will create an economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. It is in both of our interests to get this deal done.”