By Molly Goddard
1:11am PDT, Apr 17, 2025
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During an interview with
60 Minutes that aired on Sunday, April 13, Volodymyr Zelensky touched upon his infamous tension-filled February meeting with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in the Oval Office.
Zelensky said he became angry with the former Ohio senator because he was "somehow justifying"
Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions.
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During an interview with the British outlet
UnHeard published on April 15, J.D. Vance refuted Volodymyr Zelensky's claim he and Donald Trump were being sympathetic to Vladimir Putin.
"I think it's sort of absurd for Zelensky to tell the [American] government, which is currently keeping his entire
government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians," said the VP, adding that the narrative is "certainly not productive."
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Unlike former President
Joe Biden's administration, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump have been more critical of Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine.
"I've also tried to apply strategic recognition that if you want to end the conflict, you have to try to understand where both the Russians and the Ukrainians see their strategic objectives," the Yale Law School graduate said. "That doesn't mean you morally support the Russian cause, or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict."
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Elsewhere in Volodymyr Zelensky's
60 Minutes interview, the politician admitted he's unsure about where he and
Ukraine stand with America under Donald Trump's rule.
"I believe, sadly, Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S. How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing and to still believe that they are not the aggressors, that they did not start this war?" he said.
