Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the U.K., declined a phone call from U.S. Vice President JD Vance in early March, just days after a heated Oval Office meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

About 30 minutes after bringing Zelenskyy into the Oval Office, Trump concluded the question-and-answer portion of their meeting.

Trump suggested that there may not be a need for a ceasefire, in response to a question about whether he would impose "severe consequences" on Russia, as he had promised the previous week.

Ukraine’s parliament has passed a controversial bill that places the country’s leading anti-corruption institutions under direct political oversight, prompting warnings from both domestic watchdogs and the European Union that the move could derail Kyiv’s EU membership aspirations.

The Kremlin responded with icy restraint to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent warnings to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the conflict in Ukraine, suggesting Washington’s moves may encourage Kyiv to continue fighting rather than seek peace.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed Volodymyr Zelensky’s off-camera actions warrant an apology to Donald Trump following their confrontation in the Oval Office.

Shocked by Friday's altercation in the Oval Office, which led to Zelensky leaving the White House without signing an anticipated mineral deal, most European leaders quickly came to his defense.