Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) stated President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have to “get back together quickly” to hash out their disagreements after the world leaders’ explosive White Home assembly Friday.
“I think it was destructive and, frankly, to Vladimir Putin’s benefit,” Lawler said in a CNN interview after the televised West Wing shouting match. “He’s the only one that won today based on what happened in the Oval Office, but I think it’s imperative that this gets quickly put back together.”
Lawler, a International Affairs Committee member and attainable candidate for New York governor subsequent 12 months, had warned in opposition to publicly airing grievances between the U.S. and Ukraine simply days earlier than the verbal brawl broke out.
Trump and Zelensky had been set to debate peace negotiations and signal a uncommon minerals deal to make sure the U.S.’s continued support to Ukraine.
“My belief is that this deal that (Trump) has put on the table, in terms of economic cooperation between the United States and Ukraine, is most assuredly in Ukraine’s best interest and I think that President Zelensky needs to get back together with President Trump very quickly and get this deal done,” Lawler stated. “When this battle is over, Ukraine goes to want vital funding … by each america and Europe, and this settlement that was placed on the desk at present was a step in direction of that.”
He stated he personally believes Russia’s president is a “vile dictator and thug” however a crucial element of the peace negotiations.
“I feel (Trump) is attempting to truly convey Putin to the desk,” Lawler said. “We are able to disagree on the a number of the rhetoric or a number of the technique, however the backside line is you’ll be able to’t get a ceasefire until you really convey each events to the desk, as we’ve seen with the state of affairs in Gaza.”
The contentious Friday White Home assembly ended abruptly, and a press convention with the 2 leaders was canceled after Trump advised the Ukrainian delegation to go away.
Earlier than departing the White Home for Florida on Friday, Trump stated Zelensky had “overplayed his hand” and he did not sense that the Ukrainian chief was critical about ending the warfare.
“We’re not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games,” he said. “We want peace.”
