# Transcript of the 2025 Trump–Zelenskyy meeting

* related portals: Russia-Ukraine war
* sister projects: Wikidata item
This transcript covers the last 10 decisive minutes of the 50 minutes Trump–Zelenskyy meeting on February 28, 2025 (11 a.m.) in the Oval Office. The talking participants were US President Donald Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as members of the press.
Vance: “For four years, the United States of America, we had a president (Joe Biden) who stood up at 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 thumping 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 is doing.”
Zelenskyy: “Can I ask you?”
Vance: “Sure. Yeah.”
Zelenskyy: “OK. So he (Putin) occupied it, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years — I’m not speaking about just Biden, but those times was Obama, President (Barack) Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump, and God bless, now, President Trump will stop him — but during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the contact line —"
Trump: “2015?”
Zelenskyy: “2014.”
Trump: “Oh, 2014? I was not here.”
Vance: “That’s exactly right.”
Zelenskyy: “Yes, but during 2014 ‘til 2022, the situation was the same, that people have been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him, me and you, president, in 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, (French President Emmanuel) Macron and (former German Chancellor Angela) Merkel. We signed a ceasefire. Ceasefire! All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him a gas contract. 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, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into 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 an end to this conflict.”
Zelenskyy: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?”
Vance: “I have been to –”
Zelenskyy: “ - Have you come once?”
Vance: “I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that 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 into your military?”
Zelenskyy: “We have problems –”
Vance: “And do you think that is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Zelenskyy: “A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning.”
Vance: “Sure.”
Zelenskyy: “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future. God bless –”
Trump: “You don’t know that. You don’t know that.”
Zelenskyy: “...god bless, you are not in 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 –”
Zelenskyy: “I’m not telling you. I am answering on these questions.”
Trump: “...because you’re in no position to dictate that.”
Vance: “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”
Trump (angry): “You are in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel! We’re going to feel very good.”
Zelenskyy: “You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “We are going to feel very good and very strong.”
Zelenskyy: “I am telling you. You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “You’re, right now, not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position –”
Zelenskyy: “From the very beginning of the war —”
Trump: “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”
Zelenskyy: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious.”
Trump (loudly): “You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III!”
Zelenskyy: “What are you speaking about?”
Trump: “You’re gambling with World War III! And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Zelenskyy: “I am very in respect with your country!”
Vance: “Have you said thank you once?”
Zelenskyy: “A lot of times! Even today.”
Vance: “No, in this entire meeting, you said thank you? You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.”
Zelenskyy: “No. What are you speaking about?”
Vance: “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, you can –”
Trump: “He’s not speaking loudly. He’s 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. I know.”
Trump: “You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.”
Zelenskyy: “Mr. President, 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 in this cabinet.”
Trump (loudly talking over Zelenskyy): “You haven’t been alone. We gave you through a stupid president 350 billion dollars. We gave you military equipment. You may have been brave but they used our military equipment.”
Zelenskyy: “What about are we speaking? You invited me to speak –”
Trump: “If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
Zelenskyy (sarcastic): “In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days.”
Trump: “Maybe less.”
Zelenskyy (sarcastic): “Of course, yes.”
Trump: “It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.
Vance: “Just say thank you.”
Zelenskyy: “I said a lot of times! Thank you, to American people.”
Vance: “Accept that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.”
Trump: “But 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.”
Zelenskyy: “I am thankful.”
Trump (talking over Zelenskyy): “You don’t have the cards! You’re buried there. People are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire, I want to go, and I want this.’ Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.”
Zelenskyy: “Of course we want to stop the war.”
Trump: “Are you saying you don’t want a ceasefire? I want a ceasefire. Because you’ll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.”
Zelenskyy: “But I said to you, with guarantees. Ask our people about a ceasefire, what they think.”
Trump: “That wasn’t with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.”
Zelenskyy: “This is your president. It was your president.”
Trump: “Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you Javelins. 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’ve 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.”
Reporter: “One more question to Mr Vice President, I’m sorry –”
Trump: “It’s going to be a tough deal to make. Because the attitudes have to change.”
Reporter: “What if Russia breaks ceasefire? What if Russia breaks peace talks? What do you do then? I understand that it’s a heated conversation right now –”
Trump: “What are you saying?”
Vance: “She is asking what if Russia breaks the ceasefire.”
Trump: “What, if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? Okay, what if they broke it? I don’t know! They broke it with Biden, because Biden – they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me! Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt (referring to the Russiagate scandal), where they used him and Russia. ‘Russia, Russia, Russia!’ You ever heared of that deal? That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam! Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff. It was a Democrat scam! And he had to go through that, and he did go through it. We didn’t end up in a war. And he went through it. He was accused of all that stuff, he had nothing to do with it. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom, it came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting! And then they said ‘Oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia’, the 51 agents. The whole thing was a scam and he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff. All I can say is this: He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he did. I don’t know what happened. But he didn’t break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if you can make a deal. The problem is, I’ve empowered you (turning toward Zelenskyy) to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave. But you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing. All right, I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think? This is going to be great television, I will say that. We will see what we can do about putting it together. Thank you.”