Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky need to “get back together quickly” to hash out their disagreements after the world leaders’ explosive White House meeting 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 Foreign Affairs Committee member and possible candidate for New York governor next year, had warned against publicly airing grievances between the U.S. and Ukraine just days before the verbal brawl broke out.
Trump and Zelensky were set to discuss peace negotiations and sign a rare minerals deal to ensure the U.S.’s continued aid 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 said. “When this conflict is over, Ukraine is going to need significant investment … by both the United States and Europe, and this agreement that was put on the table today was a step towards that.”
He said he personally believes Russia’s president is a “vile dictator and thug” but a necessary component of the peace negotiations.
“I think (Trump) is trying to actually bring Putin to the table,” Lawler said. “We can disagree on the some of the rhetoric or some of the strategy, but the bottom line is you can’t get a ceasefire unless you actually bring both parties to the table, as we’ve seen with the situation in Gaza.”
The contentious Friday White House meeting ended abruptly, and a press conference with the two leaders was canceled after Trump told the Ukrainian delegation to leave.
Before departing the White House for Florida on Friday, Trump said Zelensky had “overplayed his hand” and he didn’t sense that the Ukrainian leader was serious about ending the war.
“We’re not looking to go into a 10-year war and play games,” he said. “We want peace.”
