US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to apologize following a heated exchange with President Donald Trump during their meeting at the White House on February 28, 2025.
During the Oval Office discussion, Zelensky insisted that there should be “no compromises” with Russian President Vladimir Putin in negotiations to end the war sparked by Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The meeting reportedly became tense, with raised voices and disagreements over the path to peace.
Speaking on CNN, Rubio criticized Zelensky’s stance, suggesting that the Ukrainian leader may not be fully committed to a peace deal.
“You start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t. His active, open undermining of efforts to bring about peace is deeply frustrating for everyone involved,” Rubio stated.
The Secretary of State further argued that Zelensky should “apologize for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did.”
