President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Oval Office, Feb. 28, 2025

Well, thank you very much. It's an honor to have President Zelensky of Ukraine. And we've been working very hard, very close, and we've actually known each other for a long time. We've been dealing with each other for a long time, and very well. We had little negotiation spat, but that worked out great, I think, for both countries, I think for the world, actually, beyond both countries. And we have something that is a very fair deal, and we look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging and working and getting some of the rare earth. But it means we're going to be inside, and it's a big commitment from the United States, and we appreciate working with you very much, and we will continue to do that. We have had some very good discussions with Russia. I spoke with President Putin, and we're going to try and bring this to a close. It's something that you want and that he wants. We have to negotiate a deal, but we've started the confines of a deal, and I think something can happen. The big thing is the number of soldiers, mostly at this point, but soldiers being killed. You're losing thousands of soldiers on both sides. We're losing a lot of soldiers, and we want to see it stop, and we want to see the money get put to different kinds of use, like rebuilding, the rebuilding. And we're going to be working very hard. But we've had a lot of very good conversations. I will say, until we came along, the Biden administration didn't speak to Russia whatsoever. They didn't speak to anybody. They just allowed this to continue. And I will say that. I'll say in front of you, you've heard me say it a thousand times. If I were president, this war would have never happened. We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you've gone through. But you. Your soldiers have been unbelievably brave. We've given them great equipment, but they. Somebody has to use the equipment. They've been unbelievably brave, and we give them great credit. This was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are three years later. So I give tremendous credit to your generals and your soldiers and yourself in the sense that it's been very hard fighting, very tough fighting. They have great fighters, and you have to be very proud of them from that stage. But now we want to get it over with. It's enough, right? We want to get it over with. So it's an honor to have you here. Thank you very much for coming. We're Going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while, right after lunch. And we'll be having lunch together. We're also discussing some other things and we appreciate everybody being here. It's somewhat of an exciting moment, but the really exciting moment is when we get a. When they stop the shooting and we end up with a deal. And I think we're fairly close to getting that. And an honor to have you. And please like to say something, ma'. Am.

Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you for invitation. And really, I hope that this document, first document will be first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine, our people, our children. I really count on it. And of course, we count that America will not stop support, really for us. It's very important to support and to continue it. I want to discuss it with details further during our conversation and of course, the infrastructure or security guarantees, because for today I, I understand what Europe is ready to do. And of course I want to discuss with you what United States will be ready to do. And I really count on your strong position to stop Putin. And you said that enough with the war. I think that is very important, Ben, to say these words to Putin at the very beginning, at the very beginning of war, because he is a killer and terrorist. But I hope that together we can stop him. But for us, it's very important to, you know, to save our country, our values, our freedom and democracy. And of course, no compromises with a killer about our territories. But it will be later. And of course, I. What I wanted, you know, we spoke about it by phone with you about the drones production. We have very good drones production. I think the best one in the world for today. Because of the war. Yes. And of course we need very much the air defense. You have the best air defense in the world. And really you helped us under attacks of Russians. And I want to speak how we can exchange the licenses. We are open to share the licenses of all our drones with you, of course, with the United States. And we need licenses for quick production of air defense even after the war. We need our nation to be calm, that we are secured. So that's why we need this air shield. And of course, about this, I want to speak about the contingency. I think that France and UK already spoke to you. And we know that Europe is ready, but without the United States, they will not be ready to be as strong as we need. And the last point, last not least about exchange, about our people and children. And you know that these crazy Russians that they stolen 20,000 of children, Ukrainian children. They changed their names, they changed their families, relatives, and now they are in Russia. We want to bring them back. And really it's a big, big dream task and goal for me and, and our warriors. We, by the way, Mr. We brought, we exchanged, we, yes, released more than 4,000 warriors from Russian prison. But there are thousands more in the prison. I wanted to share with you some, some images how, how it's up. Just, just. Can, can I, can I now? Yeah, please, please, some minutes, One minute, one minute. I just you to understand in what circumstances, in what situation they are and what the attitude of Russia to our prisoners. That guys, just you before, before and after. And you see before and after, just you to understand now thousands of such guys, ladies and men there and that they don't eat, they beat them and they, you know, they do a lot of, a lot of, you know, bad things. So out of. Even during the war there are rules. Everybody knows there are rules. During the wars, these guys, they don't have any rules. You see that 50, 60 kg left and a lot of such things. And I didn't want to show you what the changes were images of children because I will share, just share with you. I mean it's looking tragic.

Yep. That's tough stuff.

Yeah, I wanted very much to give you. And you see. This is pastor, by the way. They stolen pastors because it's not Russian church. They stolen pastors and moved pastors to the prison. We, at the end of last year we brought three pastors and we could exchange them. This is pastor, you see.

Yeah.

So I mean, this I wanted to show you and this. So thank you very much.

We want to get that ended right.

Yeah, yeah, of course, of course we will.

I think we will. I think we will. And have to.

Of course.

Do you have any questions, please?

How much money is the US going.

To put the end of the fund that is being created today and how.

Does this provide long term security for Ukraine?

Well, we don't know exactly how much because we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue. So it's going to be a lot of money will be made from the sale and from the use of raw earth. And as you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth. We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth. And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected. But still, it's not very much. They have among the best in the world in terms of raw earth. So we're going to be using that, taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including AI and including weapons and the military. And it's really going to very much satisfy our needs. So something that just worked out really well. We have a lot of oil and we have a lot of gas, we have a lot, but we don't have raw earth. So this, this has just about every component of the raw earth that we need for computers, for all of the things we do. This puts us in great shape. And long term security for Ukraine, how does this provide? I think they're going to have great luck. I think once we make the agreement, that's going to be 95% of it. They're not going to go back to fighting. I've spoken with President Putin and I think, I mean, I feel very strong. I've known him for a long time and I feel very strongly that they're very serious about it and we'll make a deal. And when the deal is made, I don't think we talk about security. Everyone's talking about the other day, all they talked about was security. I said, let me make the deal first. I have to make the deal first. I don't worry about security right now. I got to have to, we have to have a deal. Because right now, last week, 2,000 soldiers died on both sides. Two thousand, and they're losing 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 a week. So as we sit here and we talk, people are getting shot and dying on the battlefield. And you know, they're not American soldiers, but they're Russian soldiers and they're Ukrainian soldiers. And we want to be able to stop it. And we want to be able also to spend money on other things we don't want to. This is a tremendous amount of money. And what the Biden administration did was terrible. They were giving money, but he had no security on the money. Europe, as you know, gave much less money, but they had security. It was in the form of a loan. They get their money back and we didn't. And now at least we're protected because the American taxpayer has to be protected too. But this is an incredible agreement for Ukraine because we have a big investment in their country now and what they have, very few people have. And we're able to really go forward with very, very high tech things and many other things, including weaponry, weaponry that we're going to use in many locations, but that we need for our country. This allows us to do this.

Will you continue? Will you continue? I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Military aid. Yes, go ahead, please.

Again, just that. Yes. In the document, there is one of the very important points if we speak about business and investment. We never had LNG terminals in Ukraine. This document will open. I mean, the next documents. But anyway, here we see in the framework. We see. We see a really good will for this. LNG terminals for us is very important. And I think for security of European continent, we have the biggest storage, gas storage, we have the biggest in Europe. Yes. And we can use it. You can for lng. You use it for lng and we will do it. And really, we can help Europe because Europe really helped. President Trump said that they made less support, but they have our friends and they are our very supportive partners. They really gave a lot, Mr. Bren. Really, they did.

They gave a lot, but they gave much less. No, much less.

No, no, don't argue with me. No.

Okay, okay. Yeah, please.

Mr. President Trump, you have repeatedly called.

The deal with Ukraine has.

As a historical, historical land and as.

A president of the United States, you.

Make historical decision in other issues which.

Affect America and other worlds. So what place in the world history do you want to take?

And do you associate yourself with any famous historical figures?

I'd say George Washington, Abraham Lincoln. I would say I'm far superior to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Now, you know I'm only kidding, right? Because when I say that the fake news is going to go wild. They're going to say he considers himself to be better than Washington. But you never know. You never know. I don't compare myself to anybody. I just. I'm here to do a job. We've had a great 35 days or whatever. It might be a month, a little more than a month. We've accomplished tremendous amounts. Not only this, this would be a very great achievement if we could get the war stopped and get them back to normalization. I think that's going to happen. We've had very good talks on both sides, as you know, but I think we've done a very good job. Just generally, if you look at all of the things we've done in 30 days, they're saying there's never been a opening for a president the first month. There's never been a first month like we've had. And this is one of the very important things. This to me is one of the most important things because we have tremendous death taking place as we speak, and I don't want to have that. You know, think of the parents. Think of the parents, whether they're in Russia or Ukraine. Think of the parents of all these people being killed needlessly.

They came to alternate earth.

Should have never started. This would. If I were president, this would have never started.

Will you continue sending military aid to Ukraine after the US Signs this agreement with Ukraine?

Yeah, we're going to be continuing.

President Zelensky, do you feel like the US Is on your side, that President Trump is on your side at this moment?

What do you think he wants to know? Do you think that sort of a stupid question? I guess we wouldn't be here if I wasn't.

I think that the United States on our side from the very beginning of occupation and I think that President Trump on our side and of course, I not hope, I'm sure that United States president will not stop support. This is crucial for us. It's important for us. Yes. And Putin president speaks about the people and the soldiers which are dying. But they came to our territory, they came to our land, they began this war and they have to stop. And I think this is the question with really the most important question. Can President Trump, I hope, yes, with some other allies to stop Putin, withdraw these enemies, our enemy, withdraw these troops from our land? And I think that you asked about the history, about the power. I think that if President, or when he will stop Putin, if President Trump will bring peace to our country, I think he will be on this wall.

We've had very, very good talks, Mr. President.

What about military aid to Ukraine?

President Zelensky just said that there'd be no compromises. Vladimir Putin, I just wanted to ask both of you, firstly, are there compromises that you think that President Zelenskyy is going to have to make? And President Zelenskyy, is there anything that you might, you think that you may be able to offer or bring to the table, for example, elections.

Thank you. I think you're going to have to always make compromises. You can't do any deals without compromises. So certainly he's going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won't be as big as some people think you're going to have to make. That's all. That's all we can do. I'm here as a, as an arbitrator, as a mediator, to a certain extent, between two parties that have been very hostile, to put it mildly. They've been very hostile. This has been A vicious war. This has been a vicious war. You know, it's a very level battlefield. And those bullets go out. And as I've said many times, we were talking about it with Pete many times, the only thing stopping those bullets is a human body. And in the case we're talking about, generally, young human bodies are stopping a lot of bullets. It's dead level. That's why it's great farmland. It's great land. It's great farmland. But there's very little protection against the bullets that are being. And other things that are being shot. So all I can do is see if I can get everybody at the table and get an agreement. And I think we're going to end up with an agreement. Otherwise I wouldn't probably be even here today. Mr. President, I got two questions for you. You think ultimately your legacy will be the peacemaker and not the president that led this country into another war and ended foreign wars? And I've got a question. I hope it will. I mean, I hope I'm going to be remembered as a peacemaker. This is. This would be a great thing if we could do this. I'm doing this to save lives more than anything else. Second is to save a lot of money, but I consider that to be far less important. So I hope. I'm going to thank you, Brian, for that question. It was a nice question. I hope I'll be known and recognized as a peacemaker. This would be a great thing to solve. This is a very dangerous situation. You know, this could lead to a third world war. This is. This was headed in the wrong direction. If this election, we're lost. If we didn't win this election. And by the way, we won it by a lot. That was a mandate. We won every swing state. We won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes. We won everything. The districts. You look at the areas of red. Take a look at a map. This was a big mandate. And this was one of the things I said, we're going to get this thing settled. If we didn't win, I think this would have. This could have very well ended up in a third world war. And that would not. That would not have been a good situation. What was your second question? My second question for President Zelensky? No.

Do you ever. Why don't you wear a suit?

Why. Refuse to wear a suit?

You have problems.

A lot of Americans have problems with United States. Really?

I don't have such. I will wear costume after this war will finish. Yes. Maybe something like yours. Yes, maybe some. Something Better? I don't know. We will see. Maybe something cheaper than. Yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Are you going to send more arms to Ukraine in case there's no peace? Yeah, we're going to have arms to Ukraine. Yeah, sure. Hopefully, I won't have to send very much because hopefully we're going to have it finished. We're looking forward to finishing this quickly. We're not looking forward to sending a lot of arms. We're looking forward to getting the war finished so we can do other things. But we very much appreciate the agreement because we needed what they had and we're treating, you know, our country is now treated fairly. Biden didn't do that. Biden didn't. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. This should have never happened. This should have never started. But, you know, sure, the answer is yes. But hopefully we won't have to send much because I'm looking forward to get it done. Getting it done quickly, very quickly. Does that provide security guarantees? Mr. President, I don't want to talk about security yet because I want to get the deal done. You know, you fall into the same trap like everybody else a million times. You say it over and over, I want to get the deal done. Security is so easy. That's about 2% of the problem. I'm not worried about security. I'm worried about getting the deal done. The security is the easy part. Security is very nice. Everybody stops shooting. And now will Europe put people there? I know France is going to. I know the UK Is going to. I know other countries are going to, and they happen to be right next door. We haven't committed, but we could conceivably, you know, we have security in a different form. We'll have workers there digging, digging, digging, taking the raw earth so that we can create a lot of great product in this country. So in that sense, you have something, but we haven't determined that yet. I will say in speaking to France and in speaking to, and they were here, as you know, last week and just the other day, they have committed to a lot of security. I don't think you're going to need much security. I think once this deal gets done, done, it's over. Russia is not going to want to go back and nobody is going to want to go back. When this deal ends, I really believe this deal is going to be over. Question. Yeah, please, go ahead, please. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for following Keir Starmer at.

The White House this past week, both of whom praised your courage and conviction to lead the pathway towards peace.

Yes.

Part of that involved, though, re engaging with Russia diplomatic relations, something that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do. So what gave you the moral courage and conviction to step forward and lead that?

Well, I love this guy. Who are you with? One American News, sir. Well, that's why I like him. One American News does a great job. That's very. I like the question. I think it's a very good question. It is. It's a pathway to peace. It's a pathway to getting something solved. And I feel that as the head of this country, I have an obligation to do that. Plus, you know, we were very much involved. We got involved. It's too bad. We got involved because there should have been no involvement because there should have been no war and there shouldn't have been October 7th. That would have never happened. As you know, Iran was broke. They had no money to give to Hezbollah. They had no money to give to Hamas. They were stone cold broke. And then under Biden, they became rich as hell. They went from no money to $300 billion in a period of four years. And they gave a lot of that money away. And you see what happened. And that's a real mess also that we hope to be able to solve. But, no, I appreciate your question very much. It's just I feel I have an obligation to try and do something to stop the death, if I can.

If I can answer. Yes, if I can answer.

Sorry.

Please, please.

And I do like your clothing.

Yeah. Really.

Even though I have to. I think he's a great guy, by the way. I don't know if you two like each other, but you know what I think?

I think he's this guy. I don't.

I think he's dressed beautiful.

So I have more. I have more serious things than answer on such questions. I will answer on more serious questions if I can. Yeah. So please, about security guarantees and about just ceasefire. We can't just speak about ceasefire and speak and speak. It will not work. Just. Ceasefire will not never work. Because I'm like a president. I have this experience, and not only me, Ukraine, before my presidency from 2014, Putin broken 25 times. 25 times. He broken his own signature. 25 times he broken ceasefire.

But he never broke to me. Never broke?

No, no. You were the president. You were the president during. He never broke to me in 2016. You been the President. Mr. President. You've been the president. But he had. Of course not with you. But he had. During those periods, he had conversations with our Side and we had Normandy format. You know, the France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia. And he broken 25 times. That's why we will never accept just ceasefire. It will not work without security guarantees. Security guarantees. Maybe president is right about this document and other. But this document is not enough. Strong army is enough. Because his soldiers afraid. Putin's soldiers afraid of our soldiers. When we're strong enough, if we are not strong enough, if we are empty, if our storage is empty, we can't defend our land today. You know, he knows that we have meeting. All the world knows that we have meeting. Yes. Why he's using ballistic Putin today using ballistic on our hospitals, schools and et cetera, ballistic. So he knows that we are here and that President Trump is really have goodwill to stop. To stop this war. And you hear now the President so why he's using. So he doesn't want to stop. He doesn't want. But I hope that we will do it. Really, we'll do it. Security. When we speak about security. When the Europeans are ready for contingents, they need USA backstop. If there will not be United States, we will never have any strong contingents from the Europeans. Because they don't want to divide alliance connection between the United States as the main and strongest alliance and Europeans. This is crucial. This is important. That's what we want to speak about very much. This is very important. And air defense. So air defense, really. We have big deficit with all these systems. And we need to provide this. We need it very much. Otherwise Putin will never stop and will go further and further. He doesn't want. He hate us, you know, it's not about me. He hates Ukrainians. He thinks that we are not a nation. He thinks and he shares this thought. I think maybe with your team also. I don't know. But with all the Europeans in media officially and not. He always said that there is no such country, such nation, such language and such life like Ukrainian. No, he really doesn't respect all the Ukrainians and he wants destroy us. And you are right, Mr. President, that's 2%. This document, maybe other documents. It's a very good start, very good. But it will not enough to stop this person.

May I ask one more question, please? Yeah, go ahead.

I asked. They have to pay. This is the rule. This is the rule of the war. This is the rule of the war. During all the centuries, all the history. This is the rule of the war. Who began those pay? This is a rule. Putin began this war. He has to pay all money for innovation. He has to pay of Course, some Russian assets, what we have In Europe, about 300 billion, we can use them. We can use for innovation and buy military support from the United States also. We can do it, but it's not enough.

It's not a question that you didn't.

Like, because I wanted to know.

Go ahead. Please wait one second.

I want. I ask this question that you didn't like because I wanted to know if you want to position yourself in the middle between Russia and Ukraine or on the Ukraine side.

No, I'm in the middle. I want to solve this thing. I'm for both. I want to get it solved. And it's wonderful to speak badly about somebody else, but I want to get it solved. If we can solve it, great. If we can't solve it, they're going to have to fight it out and who knows what's going to happen. But I want to see it get solved. May I follow up?

One more question about U.S. troops in Europe. After Russian invasion of Ukraine, your predecessor sent additional troops to Eastern Europe, including Poland, my country. Are you committed to keeping these troops on the eastern flank of NATO.

In the future? I'm very committed to Poland. I think Poland has really stepped up and done a great job for NATO. As you know, they paid more than they had to. They are one of the finest groups of people I've ever known. I'm very committed to Poland. What about Baltics? Poland's in a tough neighborhood. You know.

What about Baltic. The Baltics.

The Baltics, they got a lot of. It's a tough neighborhood, too. But we're committed to. And we're going to be very committed, and we're committed to NATO. But NATO has to step up and the Europeans have to step up more than they have. And I want to see them equalize because they are in for far less than we're in, and they should be at least equal. You understand that. Why is the United States. We have an ocean in between. Why is the United States in for so much more money and other things as Europe? With that being said, and as you said, they've also been obviously very helpful, but we have put in far more than they have, and I think they should equalize. Yeah, please go ahead.

What changed between the first time that Secretary Bessen gave President Zelensky the agreement.

And today for the signing?

We made a deal. So what was the deciding factor? I'm a business person. We made a deal. That's what changed. I didn't think we were going to make a deal, and we ended up making the Deal. So that changed. Yes, Mr. President.

Why and how do you envision a.

Trilateral summit with President Zelensky And I.

Don'T know, but it's. Well, they don't like each other. I can tell you that. Okay. They do not like each other. This is not a love match. And it's unfortunate. That's why you're in this situation. The United States should not have allowed this to happen. Okay. The United States run by a man that didn't know much. I'm going to be very nice. Run by an incompetent person. Very incompetent person, should never have allowed this to happen. I've stopped wars. I've stopped many wars. My people will tell you I stopped wars that nobody ever heard about. I stopped wars before they ever started. You can look at some of. I could give you a lot of nations that would tell you right now they were probably going to war. I could tell you right now there's a nation thinking about going to war on something that nobody in this room has ever even heard about. Two smaller nations, but big, still big. And I think I've stopped it. But this should have never happened.

Mr. President, about, sorry, just a second. About any negotiations. First of all, I want really to tell you, and I think that everybody understands, understand that Ukraine more than Ukrainians, nobody wants to stop this war. But at the future, any negotiations, it's understandable that two sides of the war, not Russia and the United States, because this is not the war between Russia and the United States. This is war of Russia against Ukraine and Ukrainian people. So these two sides will be at any. Anyway will be at the negotiation and negotiation table. Then of course, United States, like the strongest partner of the Ukraine and of course, Europe. I think Europe is very important. I want to speak about it with the president. Yes, Europe is very important for us because we really defend Europe for today. All Europeans really recognize that we are defending lines and they have real life and our people are dying. That's why they helped us. And also it's about the NATO. Yes. Between, like the president said, you have big, nice ocean. Yes. Between us. But if we will not stay, Russia will go further to Baltics and to Poland, by the way, but first to the Baltics. It's understandable for them because they've been, they've been in the ussr. You know, they've been one of the republics of the ussr. And Putin wants to bring them back to his empire. It's a fact. And when he will go there, if we will not stay, you Will fight your American soldiers? It doesn't matter. Do you have ocean or not? Your soldiers will fight. Mr. President, would you be willing to visit Ukraine or Odessa, which is known.

To be a dirty year?

It was my question.

Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about Odessa now. Let's not talk about Odessa. I want to talk about making a deal, getting peace. We don't have to talk about Odessa, but a lot of cities have been destroyed. A lot of cities that are not recognizable. There's not a building standing. And a lot of things.

You have to come and to look. No, no, no. We have very good cities. Yes, a lot of things been destroyed, but mostly cities alive. And people work. And children go to school. Sometimes it's very difficult. Sometimes closer to frontline children have to go to underground schools or online. But we live. Ukraine is fighting, and Ukraine lives. This is very important. And maybe it's Putin is sharing this information that he destroyed us. He lost 700,000 people, 700,000 soldiers. He lost. Ever seen. Yes, Mr. President.

Please go ahead. When did you last speak with President Putin?

And what did he say that.

A couple of days ago. And what did he tell you that gave you the assurance that he wanted peace? Well, that's what I do. My whole life is deals. I know pretty good. And I really. I've known him for a long time, have dealt with them for a long time. He had to suffer through the Russia hoax. You know, Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax. It was all Biden. It was nothing to do with him. So he had to suffer through that, and he was able to do that. I think that he wants to make a deal, and he liked to see it end. That's all I do. That's what I do my whole life. That's what I do, is make deals. And I'm in the middle of a mess because this is a real mess. It's a very dangerous one. If this doesn't get solved now, it's not going to get solved for a long time. So I hope we're going to. I hope we're going to get it solved. In the back, please.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Prime Minister Starmer claims repeatedly that his.

Government believes in free speech and does.

Not engage in censorship. But his country's government arrests people for memes and thought crimes.

And even more worrisome is pressuring American companies to censor Americans on its behalf. How can you be a reliable, trustworthy partner when he says things that are demonstrably false on such an important topic?

Mr. Well, we actually spoke to him about that yesterday, and we thought they took it very, very much too far. JD Was very strong on it. So was I, so is Marco, and we've been speaking to him about it. Marco, would you like to say something about it? We have concerns, obviously, with the conduct of various, particularly as it impacts America. And there's real concern that American speech which is online, could fall into the hands of British or any country's jurisdiction. And so this is a point the vice president made in Munich, and I think it's a very compelling one that unites us with Europe as much as anything else is these shared values, and one of them being free speech. And so if Americans are threatened by it, we're going to need to take action in that regard. It's actually a very important question.

We spoke about this in detail with the prime Minister, the foreign secretary and others at lunch yesterday. And I know that Secretary of Commerce Lutnick followed up in private meetings last night. This is really important. We believe Americans have the right to speak their mind. Even if we in this room disagree with them, they have the right to speak their mind in the public square, which is often online these days. And we're going to defend that right as it pertains to American companies and American citizens vigorously if we have to. I do think that under the president's leadership, we're going to find common ground with our friends in the UK on this question. But it remains to be seen. The principle that will guide us is we believe in free speech in this country and we'll fight for it for American citizens.

On the deal, is there any other oil and gas component to the deal?

Is it all critical? Mr. A little bit. We'll see on LNG, but we're not really looking for that so much. We've got a lot. We have more than anybody in the world by far. So, no, we're not talking about it too much, but a little bit. I think it affects also, but for the most part, no. And, sir, is there any agreement from.

Ukraine to purchase US LNG as part.

Of the deal, or is that on the table at all?

No, we don't need that.

Mr. President, I just wanted to ask you about. You just mentioned that you'd spoken to Vladimir Putin a couple of days ago. Just to be clear, that's a new call. Not the, the one that you.

I've spoken to him on numerous occasions.

Okay. How was the latest call? What did you discuss?

How did it go?

Are you serious with that question?

I am. I'd love to know.

It went well. I think. I think we're going to have a deal on the minerals.

Some of those minerals are in the east of Ukraine, not far from the.

Front lines in areas that Russia.

A very good question. Thank you so much.

Would you direct President Putin to withdraw.

His forces from those areas?

Well, we'll take a look at the time. We have a lot of area. It's a very big area we're talking about. So we'll take a look. I'll study that and I'll see. And who would protect those minerals if they are US Interest?

Would that be Ukraine?

They'll be protected. The agreement will protect them. The agreement. Yeah, we're signing an agreement. But what if Russia tries to invade or orders Russia.

Russia in their spies.

I just told you I don't think that's going to happen. And if that were going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal. If I thought that was going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal. Deal. You know, they ought to focus on cnn, on survival, not asking me these ridiculous questions. Focus on surviving. Because CNN's got such low ratings, I don't think they're going to survive. Let's go. Please, go ahead.

One more. Since already I already mentioned Poland. 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 the 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?

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 Putin. 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. It's very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hatred. He's got tremendous hatred, and I understand that. But I can tell you the other side isn't exactly in love with, you know, him either. So it's not a question of alignment. I have to. I'm aligned with the world. I want to get the Thing set. 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 a deal that way. So that's the way it goes. All right. One more question. Yeah, please.

I want to respond to this. So look, for four years in the United States of America, we had a president 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.

Can I ask you? Sure, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So he occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it on 2014. So during a lot of years, I'm not speaking about just Biden, but those time was Obama, then President 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. 2015, 2014.

I was not here.

Yeah. Yes. But during 2014 till 2022, was the situation 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 conversation, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him. Me like a new president 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 broken 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?

I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country.

Yes, but if you.

Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and 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 conference.

Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?

I have been to come once. I have 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 into 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 that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

A lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning.

Sure.

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.

You don't know that.

God bless. God bless. You will not have war.

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.

I'm not telling you because you're in.

No position to dictate that.

Remember this.

You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel.

We're going to feel very good, feel influenced.

We're going to feel very good and very strong.

You will feel influenced.

You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed to be in a very beginning and he happens to be right.

About it from the very beginning of the world.

You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now with us. You start having cards right now. You don't. You're playing cards. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War iii. You're gambling with World War iii. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country. This country.

I'm with respect to you far more.

Than a lot of people said they should have.

Have you said thank you once a lot of times? No.

Even today you said thank you.

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.

Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war.

He's not speaking loudly. He's not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.

Can I wait a minute?

No, no. You've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.

I know.

You're not winning. You're not winning this.

I.

You have a damn good chance of Coming out. Okay.

Because of 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.

You haven't been in this cabinet. We gave you through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave military equipment. And you men are brave, but they had to use our military. If have our military equipment.

You invited me.

If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.

In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days. This is something maybe less in two weeks. Of course, yes.

It's going to be a very hard thing to do, business like this, I tell you.

Thank you.

I said a lot of times to.

American people, except that there are disagreements and let's go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to find fight it out in the American media. When you're wrong, we know that you're wrong.

But you see, I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on here. 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're buried there. People are dying. You're running low on soldiers. Listen, you're running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, I don't want a ceasefire. I don't want a cease fire. I want to go and I wanted this. Look, if you could get a cease fire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.

Of course we want to stop the war.

But you're saying you don't want to see.

But I said to you, I want.

To cease with guarantees because you'll get a ceasefire faster than any.

Ask our people about ceasefire, what they think. It doesn't matter for you. What?

That wasn't with me. That was with a guy named Biden who was not a smart person.

But that was your. It was your president.

Excuse me, 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. One more question to Mr. Vice President.

I'm sorry.

Going to be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change. What If Russia breaks this fire, what if Russia breaks these talks? What do we do then? Understand that it's a heated conversation right now. What are you saying?

She's asking, what if Russia breaks the ceasefire?

What if they. 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 where they used him. And Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony. 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, 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 he might have broken deals with Obama and Bush and he might have broken them with Biden. He did. Maybe. Maybe he didn't. 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 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. All right. We'll see what we can do about putting it together. Thank you. Thanks, Janet.