'Don't take the bait': US senator warned Zelenskiy before spat with Trump

US senator Lindsay Graham had sent a warning to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy just hours before his spat with President Donald Trump on Friday.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, had cautioned Zelenskiy against getting into an argument during the meeting.

"Don't take the bait. I said, don't get into arguments about security agreements," Graham told the New York Times in an interview.

Zelenskiy, however, did not pay heed to that advice when he expressed skepticism at Vice President JD Vance's view of making peace with Russia, according to analysts.

Graham had initially positioned himself as a mediator, but later called for Zelenskiy to "resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or change." Other Republican leaders also took two ways, either downplaying the confrontation or blaming Zelenskiy for not showing respect to Donald Trump.

US officials had told their Ukrainian counterparts in advance of the meeting that Trump wanted to sign an economic partnership this week at a ministerial level, as aides worked on the details about security guarantees, according to The Guardian.

Trump saw the minerals deal as the first phase of a broader economic partnership and told aides it showed the US was effectively making a commitment on security guarantees, because the agreement deal would mean the US had a vested interest in Ukraine's economic prosperity, The Guardian reported citing people familiar with the matter.

What happened during the infamous meeting between Zelenskiy and Donald Trump?

Volodymyr Zelenskiy travelled to Washington to sign a minerals deal with the Donald Trump administration on Friday. While in the meeting, he voiced concerns about the lack of a security guarantee against a future Russian invasion in the deal. That triggered an unprecedented confrontation in the Oval Office in full view of the media.

Trump and Vice-President JD Vance accused Zelenskiy of lacking gratitude. The spat ended with Zelenskiy leaving the White House abruptly, without securing the minerals-sharing deal that had been widely expected to be signed that day.

During the widely shared interview, Trump pressed Zelenskiy on Ukraine's willingness to make concessions to Russia. Vance then joined the fray, accusing the Ukrainian leader of being "ungrateful" for the support the US had already provided. He called for diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Zelenskiy pushed back on Vance, asking what kind of diplomacy he was talking about. He also listed multiple failed diplomatic efforts that had preceded Russia's full-scale invasion.

That exchange escalated quickly. Vance accused Zelenskiy of disrespecting the US President. Trump told him that he was "gambling with World War 3."