In Washington: Trump, Zelenskyy, Vance Locked in Verbal Fight

CrossFireArabia
News
February 28, 2025

READ the Full transcript of heated exchange at the Oval Office in the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday got in a heated war of words with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance Friday during a critical meeting at the White House.

The public spat was over Zelenksyy’s doubts that Trump’s efforts to broker a deal to end the three-year-long war with Russia may not yield lasting peace.

Zelenskyy departed the White House following the argument, and a planned signing ceremony for a deal on critical minerals and press conference were canceled.

Here is the full transcript of the heated exchange at the White House:

Reporter: Poland was under Russian control for decades after the Second World War. When I was a kid, I looked at the United States not only as a most powerful country, richest country in the world, the country that has great music, great movies, great muscle cars, but also as a force for good. And now I’m talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself too much with Putin. What’s your message for them?

Trump: Well, if I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal? It doesn’t work that way. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I’m aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with. You see, the hatred he’s got for Putin that’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He’s got tremendous hatred, and I understand that, but I can’t tell you the other side is exactly in love with you know him, either. So it’s not a question of alignment. I have to I’m in line with the world. I want to get the thing said. I’m aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done. You want me to be tough? I could be tougher than any human being you’ve ever seen. I’d be so tough, but you’re never going to get it done that way. So that’s the way it goes. One more question.

Vance: I will respond to this. So look, for four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up the press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden of thumbing our chest and pretending that the President of the United States’ words mattered more than the President of the United States’ actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump’s doing.

Zelenskyy: Can I ask you?

Vance: Sure? Yeah.

Zelenskyy: He (Putin) occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, part of East and Crimea. So he occupied in 2014. so during a lot of years. So I not speaking about just President Obama, then President Trump, then President Obama, now President Trump, God bless now President Trump will stop him. But during 2015 nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people.

Trump: I was not here.

Zelenskyy: Yes. But during 2014 till 2022. The situation the same that people are been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we have conversations with him, a lot of conversation, many bilateral conversation, and we signed with him.. In 2019 I signed with him, the deal, I signed with him, Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him, gas contract. Gas contract, yes, but after that, he broke the ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy JD you are speaking about? What do you mean?

Vance: I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems, you should be thanking the president for trying to bring it into this.

Zelenskyy: Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see what problems we have?

Vance: I have been to.

Zelenskyy: Come once.

Vance: I’ve actually, I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people. You bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems bringing people in your military? and do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

Zelenskyy: A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean and but don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.

Trump: You don’t know that.

Zelenskyy: God bless, you will not have a war…

Trump: Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel, because you’re in no position to dictate that exactly.

Zelenskyy: I am not telling you.. (inaudible) I am answering… question…

Trump: You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good.

Zelenskyy: You will feel influence…

Trump: You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed to be in a very bad position, and it happens to be….

Zelenskyy: From the very beginning of the war.. (inaudible)…

Trump: You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. with us, you start having problems right now.

Zelenskyy: I’m not playing cards…

Trump: You are playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.

Zelenskyy: I am the president of.. (inaudible)

Trump: You’re gambling with World War II. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s back to you far more than a lot of people say they should..

Vance: Have you said thank you?

Zelenskyy: A lot of times…

Vance: No, in this entire meeting?

Zelenskyy: Even today…

Vance: You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October, offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.

Zelenskyy: Please, you think that, if you will speak very loudly about the war…

Trump: He is not speaking loudly, your country is in big trouble.

Zelenskyy: Can I answer?

Trump: No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.

Zelenskyy: I know…

Trump: You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay, because of us.

Zelenskyy: We are staying in our country, staying strong, from the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone, and we are thankful. I said, thanks…

Trump: You haven’t been alone…

Zelenskyy: I said thank you…

Trump: We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion we gave you military equipment…. if you didn’t have our military equipment, if you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks…

Zelenskyy: In three days. I heard it from Putin in three days. This is something…

Trump: Maybe less…

Zelenskyy: in two weeks.. of course.

Trump: It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.

Vance: You said thank you.

Zelenskyy: I said… (inaudible)…

Vance: Except that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements, rather than trying to fight it out of the American media, when you’re wrong, we know that you’re wrong.

Trump: You see, I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful you don’t have the cards. You don’t have the cards..

Zelenskyy: I am thankful…

Trump: You’re buried there.

Zelenskyy: I can tell you again…

Trump: People are dying. You’re running low on soldiers.

Zelenskyy: Listen…

Trump: You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, I don’t want to ceasefire. I don’t want to ceasefire. I want to go and I want this… Look, if you could get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop being killed…

Zelenskyy: Of course, we want to start the war, but I …

Trump: You are saying you don’t want to ceasefire. I want a ceasefire because you get a ceasefire faster than…

Zelenskyy: Ask our people about ceasefire. What they think… (inaudible)…

Trump: That wasn’t with me, that was with a guy named Biden who was not a smart person.

Zelenskyy: It was your president…

Trump: That was with Obama who gave you sheets and I gave you javelins. Yes, I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets and Trump gave javelins, you got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards.

Anadolu

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Israeli Army: 18 Soldiers Dead, 910 Injured in Lebanon

CrossFireArabia
May 13, 2026

The Israeli army revealed, Tuesday, its total casualty figures in the ongoing battles with the resistance movement in southern Lebanon since fighting resumed in 2 March, 2026

The army reported in an official statement that the deaths of 18 officers and soldiers, along with 910 that were wounded, during the continued clashes in southern part of the country and as reported by the the Palestinian Information Center.

The fierce battles in south Lebanon have been unexpected because of their intensity. The Israeli army noted that 190 officers and soldiers were wounded just in the past two weeks; it specified that 114 soldiers sustained moderate injuries, while 52 others were in serious condition.

However, the Israeli army put on a stiff upper lip. It claimed to have destroyed Hezbollah missile launchers, which it said were aimed at occupied Palestine and its forces were in forward deployment mode in southern Lebanon.

It also claimed to have killed 15 Hezbollah members, alleging they posed a “threat” to its forces, and announced the discovery of a weapons cache in the town of Rashaf, according to its statement released Tuesday evening.

The Israeli occupation army continues its intensive attacks on Lebanon as part of an ongoing aggression that has resulted in thousands of martyrs and wounded, in addition to the displacement of more than 1.6 million people.

Despite the fragile ceasefire that came into effect on April 17, the occupation forces continue their incursions into southern Lebanon, along with carrying out systematic demolitions and destruction of homes and buildings, and forcibly displacing residents from dozens of villages, under the pretext of targeting what they describe as “military infrastructure and Hezbollah elements.”

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Watch Out: Israel is Secretly Filling The West Bank With Settlements

CrossFireArabia
May 12, 2026

DEIR AMMAR, Occupied West Bank—Mustafa Badaha drove along the edge of his land, past rows of olive trees he could no longer access. A red string put up by Israeli settlers demarcated the border of what was stolen from him in Deir Ammar, a Palestinian town around 17 kilometers northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The settlers had recently established a new outpost in the area named Ramataim Zofim.

“Everything is legal—I have permits—but it makes no difference. A settler comes and simply says, ‘This is my land. You have no place here,’” Badaha told Drop Site. For years, he cultivated the land, building a small summer home where his family would gather. “Now, no one can go there—if we try, we are attacked,” he said. “What was once my joy is now my greatest fear.”

A red string put up by Israeli settlers on Mustafa Badaha’s land in Deir Ammar in the occupied West Bank demarcating the land they took over. April 30, 2026. Photo by Naqaa Hamed.

Settlers began routinely attacking Palestinians in the area back in August 2025. “They came here armed, created problems with the youth and the families, and even fired live ammunition,” Badaha said. He contacted the Palestinian Authority, who reached out to Israeli authorities. “The attacks kept increasing day after day. At first, the settlers were about 500 meters away, then gradually they kept getting closer until they reached the houses,” he said. “Every day there are provocations. They block the road, and with the youth we reopened it several times. Recently, there was another major attack and they blocked the road again.” After contacting the Israeli police, the Israeli military eventually arrived and detained Palestinians from the community instead of the settlers.

“The youth were insulted, detained for over an hour, searched, and had their IDs checked. I asked the officer, ‘What are we supposed to do? You tell us not to react, but settlers are the ones attacking,’” Badaha exclaimed. “We are living under constant attacks. This is our home, our land—we have water, electricity, internet—everything. Yet there is no safety.”

Ramataim Zofim is one of 34 settlements secretly approved by the Israeli security cabinet in late March, a decision that was only revealed in Israeli news reports last month. It marked the largest number of settlements approved by any Israeli government at one time. The decision to officially approve new settlements or to legalize outposts allows for the establishment of water and electricity infrastructure, further entrenching their presence on Palestinian land.

The 34 new settlements established by the Israeli security cabinet join 68 settlements the current government has approved since its formation a little over three years ago. By comparison, only six new settlements were formally approved by Israel in the 30 years between the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and the establishment of the current government. Over the past three decades, thousands of additional housing units have been approved within existing settlements, like Ma’ale Adumim which lies just east of Jerusalem and is home to up to 40,000 Israeli settlers.

“This represents an unprecedented pace and scale of expansion,” Amir Daoud, director of Publishing and Documentation at the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told Drop Site. Until the establishment of the current Israeli government there were 127 official settlements in the West Bank, according to the Israeli group Peace Now. Adding over 100 new official settlements represents an increase of nearly 80%.

“These new sites are distributed across the West Bank in what can be described as a fragmented but comprehensive pattern, effectively targeting the entire territory,” Daoud said. “Overall, this wave of approvals reflects a clear race against time to impose as many facts on the ground as possible, in order to achieve long-standing strategic goals.”

A map of the 34 newly approved Israeli settlements approved in March 2026. Credit: Peace Now.

All 34 of the new settlements are located in Area C, a technical designation established under the Oslo Accords that divided the West Bank into three sections. Area A is technically under Palestinian civil administration and security control; Area B is under Palestinian civil administration but shares security control with Israel; and Area C is under full Israeli control.

The International Court of Justice, UN Security Council resolutions, and international law experts agree that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

“Consistent with long-standing settlement policy, these new sites contribute to the fragmentation of Palestinian areas while simultaneously creating territorial continuity between settlements,” Daoud said. “This is especially evident in central parts of the West Bank, where settlement placement further disrupts Palestinian geographic cohesion.”

Five of the newly approved settlements are in the governorate of Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the south of the territory and home to the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank. One of the settlements, which lies southwest of the city of Al-Khalil, named Meged, has affected land that Fahed Qawasmi and his family have cultivated for generations.

“My sister and I lost about three dunams [about 0.75 acres] of our land,” Qawasmi told Drop Site. “We only realized what was happening from neighbors—they had already taken around 300 to 400 dunams [about 74 to 100 acres] before reaching our land…We rushed there, but settlers attacked my brother on the land.”

The establishment of a new settlement has geographical ripple effects far beyond the actual settlement itself. “If a settlement is built, it won’t just take the land it stands on. It will expand around it, turning the surrounding areas into closed military zones,” Qawasmi said. “That means more land lost, more restrictions, and no access—not just for us, but for nearby homes and fields as well.”

Qawasmi said that grapevines more than 100 years old and police trees planted by his father were all uprooted. “This land is extremely valuable to us—not in money, but because it was passed down through generations. My father inherited it from his father, and so on. We were even offered to sell it before, but we always refused. This land is not for sale,” he said. “To lose it like this, without any right, is devastating. It destroys you emotionally.”

In the north of the West Bank, six of the newly approved settlements form a semi circle around Jenin, surrounding the Palestinian city from the west, south, and east.

“The land involved here is around 500 dunams [around 123 acres], and what’s happening now—through road construction and gradual takeover—means this entire area could effectively be confiscated,” Mohammad Arqawi, the head of the village council of Al-Arqah village in Jenin, told Drop Site. “And when 500 dunams are affected, it doesn’t just impact one group. It affects farmers, traders, workers, shepherds—the entire local community.”

A staggering 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced across the West Bank since the beginning of 2025 by demolitions, settler attacks, and access restrictions, according to a statement by the Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq. Meanwhile, violence by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. According to the United Nations, between October 7, 2023 and April 23, 2026, at least 1,088 Palestinians—including 238 children— have been killed. Forty-two of them have been killed since the beginning of 2026. The UN said that the first four months of 2026 have seen the most violent start to a year since monitoring of settler violence and harassment began in 2013.

“This is just the beginning—the impact will grow,” Arqawi said. “Every time settlers attack, the army is present. The situation has become almost routine—settlers and army operating together on a daily basis.”

* Sharif Abdel Kouddous contributed to this report which is published in the Drop Site website

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In Washington: Trump, Zelenskyy, Vance Locked in Verbal Fight

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