President Trump meets with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday.
Mstyslav Cherno/AP
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Mstyslav Cherno/AP
Both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and President Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz questioned President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s future leadership of Ukraine following the heated Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday.
Johnson told NBC News on Sunday that Zelenskyy might lose his support among his own people.
“Something has to change,” Johnson said. “Either he needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that. I mean, it’s up to the Ukrainians to figure that out, but I can tell you that we are — we are re-exerting peace through strength.”
Waltz, a top White House adviser, echoed Johnson. He also harkened back to 1945 when then-prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill, was voted out of office in the wake of World War II and “did not transition England to the next phase.”
“It’s unclear whether President Zelenskyy, particularly after what we saw Friday, is ready to transition Ukraine to an end to this war,” Waltz said on CNN’s State of the Union. “If it becomes apparent that President Zelenskyy’s … motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.”
Trump’s national security adviser then defined the path to peace, as the administration see it.
“This will clearly be some type of territorial concession for a security guarantees going forward,” Waltz said of a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. “This needs to be European led security guarantees going forward.”
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president agreed to work on a ceasefire plan with Britain and France on Sunday, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. European leaders largely supported Zelenskyy following his Friday Oval Office meeting with Trump.
Both Johnson and Waltz said they hoped Zelenskyy would return to Washington to sign a deal that would grant the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical raw materials in exchange for possible aid.
“I hope and pray, frankly, that President Zelenskyy will come to his senses, come back to President Trump, express gratitude as he should, you know, apologize for his behavior there, and accept this mineral rights deal,” Johnson said.
Yet, the suggestion of a change in Ukrainian leadership brought bipartisan pushback on Sunday.
“I think that is a horrific suggestion,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said on NBC News. “Zelenskyy is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who invaded his country.”
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., similarly disagrees with ending support of the Ukrainian president — which Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., also suggested.
“I’m not interested in calling on the resignation of other world leaders,” Lankford said. “I didn’t like it when Chuck Schumer asked for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to be removed. I don’t like it when other members of the Senate ask for Zelenskyy to be removed, either.”
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called the Friday meeting a “missed opportunity” for both Trump and Zelenskyy.
“The failure to reach a deal the other day was a win for Vladimir Putin,” Lawler, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told NPR. “It is crucial for both parties to return to negotiations and finalize the agreement, putting Ukraine in a stronger position for peace talks.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Sunday to ABC News, “We are prepared to resume discussions when they are ready to pursue peace.”
