‘Don't take the bait': US senator warned Zelensky before spat with Donald Trump

Hours before his altercation with President Donald Trump on Friday, US Senator Lindsay Graham had warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky had received a warning from South Carolina Republican Graham not to argue during the meeting. "Avoid falling for the trick. "I told you not to argue about security agreements," Graham stated in an interview with the New York Times.

In an attempt to mediate the situation, Graham first demanded that Zelenskyy "resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or change." Other Republican leaders likewise adopted one of two stances: they either minimized the altercation or accused Zelensky of disrespecting Donald Trump.

On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington to sign a minerals agreement with the government of Donald Trump. He expressed worries throughout the discussion regarding the deal's lack of a security guarantee against a future Russian invasion. In front of the media, it led to an unusual altercation in the Oval Office.