MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy had received a well-deserved “solid slap” from President Donald Trump, as Russian officials reacted with glee to the public clash.
“A brutal dressing down in the Oval Office,” Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, posted on Telegram, commenting on the White House confrontation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was a miracle that Trump and Vice President JD Vance had restrained themselves from hitting Zelenskiy during the argument which was broadcast on live TV to the world.
Medvedev, in his post, insulted Zelenskiy and said he had finally been told the truth to his face that, as he put it, “the Kyiv regime is playing with World War Three.” He called for military aid to Ukraine to be halted, something Moscow has long been pushing for.
Russia has long portrayed Zelenskiy as an unstable and self-obsessed U.S. puppet who was used by the previous Biden administration to try to inflict a strategic defeat on Moscow by “fighting to the last Ukrainian.” Zelenskiy has rejected that characterisation, saying he is doing all he can to defend his country from Russia with help from his allies.
Former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov said the Oval Office clash was likely to accelerate the end of Zelenskiy’s political career, something some Russian officials have been keen to see for some time, believing it will be easier to strike a peace deal with someone else.
“The main conclusion that everyone has drawn from the public scandal of Zelenskiy and Trump is that Zelenskiy is completely out of line and should step down from the presidency as soon as possible,” said Markov.
Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of Russia’s upper house of parliament, said the bruising encounter had found out Zelenskiy and revealed him in his true colours.
“Zelenskiy lost this round with a deafening rattle. And he will have to crawl to the next one on his knees,” Kosachyov wrote on Telegram.
“When for several years you get away with any lie, and the applause drowns out any doubts, there is an illusion that everything is allowed and that this will always be the case.
“Today in the Oval Office, Zelenskiy continued to lie – about the strength of Ukraine, about gratitude to America, and about his readiness for peace. It didn’t work,” said Kosachyov.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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