What did JD Vance say to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office – and how do his claims stack up?
It was a meeting to kick off a day of joint engagements – but Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sit-down saw White House schedules hastily redrawn.
The pair met in the Oval Office to discuss a minerals deal – which was supposed to be signed later on – and negotiations over ceasefire agreement with Russia.
It started politely enough but around 35 minutes in, the meeting took a quick and unexpected turn. Its demise was fuelled by comments from the man beside the US president: JD Vance.
Ukraine latest: Zelenskyy schedules meeting with King Charles
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Watch Trump and Zelenskyy clash
A long-time critic of American support for Ukraine, the vice president berated Mr Zelenskyy for airing disagreements in front of the media – and as he did so, he made a number of claims about topics including the Ukrainian military, official visits to Kyiv and Mr Zelenskyy’s political affiliations.
Here, we look at the VP’s comments and additional context surrounding them.
Ukraine is ‘forcing conscripts to the frontlines’
Tensions began to rise as Mr Vance called the Ukrainian president “disrespectful” – an accusation Mr Trump repeated as the exchange hit its most intense moments.
Mr Vance added: “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.”
His statement that Ukraine is relying on conscription is correct. With some exceptions – such as health issues – Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country and anyone who reaches the age of 25 is conscripted unless they have already volunteered or are exempt.
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The Ukrainians trying to dodge army draft
Conscription is not unusual for armies locked in warfare. It was used by multiple countries during World War One and World War Two, and during the Vietnam War, the US government drafted men to fight via lotteries.
Russia is not using conscription to specifically recruit troops for the Ukraine war. But, with a few exceptions, all Russian men aged between 18 and 30 must complete a year of military service – and some of them have been sent to areas such as the Kursk region during the conflict.
‘Propaganda tour’
In response to the conscription comment, Mr Zelenskyy asked the VP: “Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?”
The answer, as Mr Zelenskyy knew, was no.
Ignoring the suggestion that he should visit, Mr Vance countered: “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.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, dozens of world leaders have visited the country. Among them are Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer, along with then British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv in February 2023. Pic: Reuters
The world’s media – including Sky News correspondents – have also reported from the frontlines.
It’s unclear why Mr Vance considers these trips “propaganda tours” but it’s a term our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett has encountered frequently: he says it’s a phrase “one hears on Russian state media on an almost daily basis”.
‘Zelenskyy hasn’t said thank you’
Another sticking point for Mr Vance was whether Mr Zelenskyy was thankful enough for the US’s help.
“Have you said ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting?” he asked. “Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.”
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Mr Zelenskyy insisted he had done so “a lot of times, even today” and a glance back at just the past two years proves this to be true.
On X, he thanked the US and then president Mr Biden on 21 January 2022, 1 July, 2022, 19 August 2022, 20 November the following year, in March 2024 and as recently as 10 January.
He also shared thanks in person when he met Mr Biden in the Oval Office on 21 December 2022, and in speeches in Washington DC on 11 December 2023 and 10 July 2024.
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All the times Zelenskyy thanked the US
Mr Zelenskyy has thanked Mr Trump since his election win in November last year. On 7 December, he labelled the then president-elect “resolute” and said: “I thank him.”
On 12 February, after a “meaningful conversation” with Mr Trump, he wrote: “I am grateful to President Trump for his interest in what we can accomplish together.”
This is a non-exhaustive list.
Read more:
Trump and Zelenskyy’s body language explained
Analysis: The row is a triumph for Russia
Starmer in crisis talks with Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy ‘campaigned’ for the Democrats
Amid the row over a perceived lack of gratefulness, Mr Vance told Mr Zelenskyy: “You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.”
The Ukrainian president’s reply was simply “no”.
Mr Zelenskyy did visit Pennsylvania alongside the state’s governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, in September last year, but he wasn’t on the campaign trail.
Under tight security Mr Zelenskyy visited an ammunition factory to thank workers for producing vital munitions for Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Mr Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania in September. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
He wrote on X afterwards: “It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail.
“Thanks to people like these – in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries – who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”
On the same trip, he met with Mr Trump in New York.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
Follow live updates: Zelenskyy among world leaders joining thousands of mourners
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
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US
Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are ‘very close to a deal’ – and says ‘two sides should now meet’
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.
Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
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Ukraine-Russia peace talks explained
Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.
On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.
A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.
It comes after Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.
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Putin-Witkoff meeting
The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.
Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.
Read more:
US and Russia talks moving in ‘right direction’, top diplomat says
A ‘barbaric’ 24 hours in a ‘horrendous’ war
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.
However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.
“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”
When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.
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