Zelensky Acted Two-Faced & Trump Is "Personally Very Upset" With Him: Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed in a televised interview that President Trump is "personally very upset at President Zelensky" over Ukraine's reaction to discussions on access to Ukraine's mineral wealth, for which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was dispatched to Kiev last week.
"We discussed this issue about the mineral rights, and we explained to them, look, we want to be in a joint venture with you — not because we’re trying to steal from your country, but because we think that’s actually a security guarantee," Rubio explained to Canadian journalist Catherine Herridge.
He described that Zelensky expressed openness to such a deal before apparently reversing course. Rubio said the Ukrainian leader conveyed that "sure, we want to do this deal; it makes all the sense in the world — the only thing is I need to run it through my legislative process, they have to approve it."
"I read two days later that Zelensky is out there saying: I rejected the deal; I told them no way, that we’re not doing that. Well, that’s not what happened in that meeting. So, you start to get upset by somebody — we’re trying to help these guys," Rubio continued.
That's when the top US diplomat emphasized, "We're trying to help these guys. Ukraine doesn't directly impact the daily lives of Americans, there should be some gratitude here."
"When you see him accusing the President of disinformation, that's highly counterproductive. President Trump isn't going to take that. He's not going to get gamed," Rubio added. "He hopes Zelensky isn't trying to hustle the United States, that's not going to be productive here."
"I think President Trump is very upset with Zelensky, and rightfully so." Watch:
President Trump "wants this war with Ukraine to end. And he wants to know: Are the Russians serious about ending the war, or not serious about ending the war?" Rubio said in the Thursday interview.
"The only way is to test them, to basically engage them and say, okay, are you serious about ending the war, and if so, what are your demands," he added.
While explaining he's "not a fan of most of what Vladimir Putin has done" - Rubio made clear that "We ultimately have to be able to talk to a nation that has, in some cases, the largest tactical nuclear weapons stockpile in the world, and the second largest, if not the largest, strategic nuclear weapons stockpile in the world."
Watch: President Trump spoke to Zelensky right after he hung up with Putin. Rubio was present for both phone calls. "To say that we have not consulted with them is not accurate, it’s not true."
The State Department recently described that such talks are ongoing, saying Trump and Putin appointed "respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible," according to a statement.
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Watch the full interview below:
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