Newsman: House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Sunday that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may need to resign to salvage the nascent Ukraine-Russia peace process, adding his voice to a growing debate sparked by the argumentative Oval Office meeting between Zelenskyy with President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” in order for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday.
Johnson also argued that security guarantees were inherent in the mineral rights deal, telling Welker, “This mineral rights deal is a win, a win for everyone. It will give us access to rare earth minerals that we need, and it will provide a level of security for Ukraine.”
“President Trump is trying to get these two parties to a point of peace,” Johnson said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding: “What President Zelenskyy did in the White House was effectively signal to us that he’s not ready for that yet, and I think that’s a great disappointment.”
“Something has to change,” Johnson told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “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.”
House speaker Johnson on Sunday echoed the president and vice president, telling on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker that Zelenskyy “berated and interrupted his host, instead of expressing gratitude for the extraordinary help that the U.S. has provided his country.”
Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz agreed and told CNN’s “State of the Union” during a interview on Sunday ,
“We need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end the war.”
“And if it becomes apparent that President Zelenskyy’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting … we have a real issue on our hands.”
Waltz said the discussions with those leaders included talk of “European boots on the ground [and] security guarantees for Ukraine.”
The Friday meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump collapsed into a chaotic three-way shouting match − in front of TV cameras − that also included Vice President JD Vance. Instead of signing an agreement for the U.S. to develop and share revenue from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, meeting ended the day hours earlier than planned and without a deal when President Trump demanded the Ukrainian president leave the White House.
The Trump administration wants to bring the combatants to the negotiating table and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian diplomats Feb. 18 in Saudi Arabia to begin working toward peace talks. But Zelenskyy wants Europe and the U.S. to provide certain promises to Ukraine before talks with Russia begin. “Peace can only come when we know we have security guarantees, when our army is strong, and our partners are with us,” he said in a post on X.
US national security advisor Waltz, in his CNN interview, said any security promise “needs to be European-led … what type of support we provide or not is to be negotiated.” UK leader Starmer, by contrast, said a European peacekeeping contingent would itself require “a U.S. backstop” to guarantee its own security.
“They will effectively be in an economic partnership with us after that point, and we will definitely always defend our interests and our investments,” Johnson added. “Russia knows that. China knows that. Iran, North Korea know that, and that’s a very important message for us.”
Asked if Putin was the “winner” in the fallout from the tense Oval Office exchange, Johnson said “No, he wasn’t.”
