During a contentious Oval Office meeting on Friday, Vice President JD Vance accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential race.
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, on February 24, 2022. While the U.S. has been a close ally, delivering Kyiv billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid, President Donald Trump’s administration has shifted Washington’s policy on the conflict.
Before Friday’s meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of being a “dictator,” calling for new elections. He has also suggested Ukraine may be responsible for the war.
What To Know
Trump and Zelensky met in the White House to sign a deal regarding Ukrainian minerals, as well as to continue discussions on reaching an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. But the meeting spiraled into shouting and disagreements, with Vance raising concerns about Zelensky’s visit to Pennsylvania last year.
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“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 is trying to save your country,” Vance said.
His criticism stems from a September 2024 visit to a munitions plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a battleground state that narrowly backed Trump in November.
“I began my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the employees at the plant and by reaching agreements to expand cooperation between Pennsylvania and our Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky wrote in a post to X at the time. “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.”
Although the visit was not billed as a campaign event, Republicans alleged it amounted to a campaign stop, arguing that it was inappropriate for a foreign leader to attend a political event just weeks before a crucial election. It spurred investigations from House Republicans about whether Zelensky’s appearance was an improper use of tax dollars.
“The Committee is investigating any coordination or communication among the
Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvania’s Office of the Governor, and President Zelensky for use or solicitation of use of government property to politically benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign,” Representative James Comer, Kentucky Republican who leads the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a letter to the White House.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt, of Missouri, wrote on X at the time that Zelensky was “campaigning for Democrats in battleground Pennsylvania today some 50 days out from our Presidential election.”
Zelensky also faced criticism around that time for describing Vance as “too radical” in an interview with The New Yorker.
What People Are Saying
Zelensky, in a statement after the meeting: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
Hannah Gais, researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, on X: “Toward the end, Vance accuses Zelenskyy of campaigning for Dems in PA. (He didn’t.) Pro-Trump politicians/influencers wrongly characterized a trip Zelenskyy made to a munitions plant in Scranton, PA, in Sept. as a campaign stunt for Democrats and have been running with it since.”
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on X: “I’m glad President Trump let this play out in public and that JD Vance called out Zelensky on his intervention in the US election in Biden’s favor.”
What Happens Next
The mineral deal between the U.S. and Ukraine was not signed, and its future remains in doubt after the tense meeting.
