Photo: Screenshot from X account of Wall Street Journal

A press conference at the White House scheduled for Friday where US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky planned to sign the US-Ukraine minerals deal was canceled, following a tense shouting match between the two inside the Oval Office earlier in the day.

The shouting match between leaders of two countries astonished observers worldwide. Chinese experts described it as "rare and dramatic" in the history of modern international relations. This incident laid bare the deep divergences between the US and Ukraine regarding the resolution of the ongoing crisis. It also demonstrated to the Trump administration that ending the crisis might be more challenging than it had initially planned.

What should have been a normal press pool spray before the high-stakes Trump-Zelensky bilateral meeting transpired into a fireworks-filled blowup aired on TV that no one would expect, all starting with an interjection by US Vice President JD Vance, who was present in the room, demanding that the Ukrainian leader be thankful for Trump's effort to get his country out of its three-year conflict with Russia, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict," Vance told Zelensky during the unprecedented public confrontation, which later saw the three of them - Trump and Vance versus Zelensky - repeatedly race to talk over one another.

Rebuking Vance, Zelensky's remarks that the US will "in the future" feel the problem brought to it by the Ukraine-Russia conflict was pushed back by Trump, who said Zelensky was "in no position to dictate what we are going to feel" given that he "allowed" himself "to be in a very bad position."

"You don't have cards right now. With us you start having cards," Trump said as Zelensky, whose voice was barely audible in the face of a shouting Trump, was heard saying he was not 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," Trump piled on and continued.

After the chaotic Oval Office confrontation, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social saying: "I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

For his part, Zelensky took to X and said: "Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you (President Trump), Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."

US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials. The Ukrainian president refused to apologize, telling Fox News, "I'm not sure that we did something bad." He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters.

Trump, speaking to the media after the meeting as he prepared to embark Marine One to head to an event in Florida, doubled down on his stance at the meeting, claiming that Zelensky is not serious about peace. "He's looking to go on and fight, fight, fight," Trump said. Asked if he wanted Zelensky to step down, he said, "I want somebody that's going to make peace," according to the New York Times

"Zelensky destroyed himself in the eyes of the American people," President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk said on X. "Time to find out what really happened to the hundreds of billions of dollars sent to Ukraine," he wrote on the X.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday said Trump showed "restraint" by not hitting Zelensky during their shouting match in the White House.

Following the incident, EU and several European countries' leaders voiced support to Zelensky. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X: "Your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President. We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace."

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Portugal that "I think we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago, and to continue to do so."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that "Ukraine, Spain stands with you."

This rare and dramatic exchange of barbs between the presidents of two countries in front of the public is uncommon in the modern history of international relations and has laid bare the fundamental differences between the two on how to resolve the Ukraine crisis, Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times

For Ukraine, which has borne the huge sacrifice of three years' conflicts, it is seething with rage after being forced to the negotiation table to accept terms that are unfavorable to its core interests. Meanwhile, the US aims to compel Ukraine to accept the resolution imposed by the Trump administration, thereby fulfilling Trump's goal of bringing the conflict to an end as swiftly as possible, said Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

Li said such a fiery exchange of words between the two leaders is also meant to show their voters that they are strong leaders who can defend their countries' interests.

It's unclear what the blowup could mean for the mineral deal that Trump insisted was essential to repay the US for the more than $180 billion in American aid sent to Kiev since the start of the war. It remains to be seen what, if anything, Trump wants Zelensky to do to get the deal back on track, AP reported.

The Ukrainian leader was asked to leave the White House by top Trump advisers shortly after Trump shouted at him, showing open disdain, according to AP.

Whether the rare earth agreement is signed this time or not will not have a significant impact on promoting the negotiations between Russia and the US, said Cui.

This is because the rare earth agreement was originally nothing more than an exchange condition intended to persuade all parties involved in the negotiations to carry them out smoothly. In fact, even without the deal, it would be possible to devise other exchange conditions, Cui noted. 

In fact, there is still a long way to go before bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the negotiation table. Only the US is eager to reach a peace accord and end the crisis in a quick manner. It is believed that this incident will demonstrate fact to the Trump administration that ending the crisis is more challenging than it had anticipated, said Li.