Rep. Greg Stanton on Trump, Zelenskyy heated meeting: ‘A very sad moment’

PHOENIX — President Donald Trump invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House on Friday, and their meeting was a heated exchange to say the least. The contentious meeting, its entirety captured on video for the world to see, ended without Zelenskyy signing a “minerals deal” Trump claimed would be the next step to end Ukraine’s three-plus year conflict with Russia.

Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat in the state’s 4th district, called the meeting “a very sad moment” for the United States who have long supported the Ukrainian people.

“We cannot allow (Vladimir) Putin to continue to advance militarily, trying to reestablish the old Soviet order,” Stanton told KTAR News on Friday. “I thought it was a really bad day. And it’s a day celebrated by Putin and certainly celebrated by the Chinese Communist Party as well, because we know they’re watching. And if we turn our back on our allies, Ukraine, what does that mean for our willingness to stand firm for the people of Taiwan?”

What in the exchange was Greg Stanton reacting to?

In a roughly 45-minute conversation, that featured Vice President J.D. Vance as well, Trump called Zelenskyy “disrespectful” for his recent actions and for “gambling with World War III,” in the words of Trump.

Zelenskyy, for his part, said he was trying to keep Trump from pulling away U.S. support and from working too closely with Putin, who “had broken ‘his own signature’ 25 times on ceasefires and other agreements,” according to the Associated Press.

Trump insisted the mineral deal, which would involve sharing Ukrainian resources with the U.S., would swiftly end the war, but that Zelenskyy’s “hatred” for the Russian leader was preventing successful negotiation.

In response to if U.S. safety is at risk, Stanton said he thinks Zelenskyy’s plea with Trump was built on the strong suspicion that if Ukraine falls into Putin’s hands, “Europe is next.”

“Members of NATO will be affected and therefore the United States, under our treaty duties, is called into conflict, direct conflict, with American troops on the ground,” Stanton said, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Associated Press and KTAR News’ Balin Overstolz McNair contributed to this report.

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