The tense meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy puts the spotlight on some European nations’ ‘divergence’ from promoting freedom and reaching peace in Eastern Europe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’
‘I think those who are criticizing [Trump’s] efforts in this way are showing that they are not committed to peace, and in the case of many of those European countries, that they’re not committed to the cause and values of freedom, even though they speak of this,’ Gabbard told Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday morning when asked about Democrat U.S. politicians criticizing the meeting at the White House and Russia celebrating Trump’s tense meeting with Zelenskyy.
‘We heard very clearly during Vice President Vance’s speech in Munich, different examples of how these European partners and longtime allies, in many cases, are actually implementing policies that undermine democracy that shows that they don’t actually believe in the voices of the people being heard, and implementing anti-freedom policies. We’re seeing this in the United Kingdom. We’re seeing this in Germany. We saw it with the tossing out of the elections in Romania,’ she continued.
Zelenskyy traveled to the UK over the weekend, following his meeting with Trump and Vance, which culminated in Trump telling the Ukraine leader to leave the White House, while adding in a social media post that Zelenskyy can come back for another meeting ‘when he is ready for Peace.’
On Saturday, Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was seen hugging him and told local media on Sunday that he had spoken with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the UK and France taking the reins on crafting a plan for peace that will eventually be presented to the U.S.
European leaders are meeting in London on Sunday to further discuss a peace plan.
Gabbard argued in her interview that ‘there’s something fundamentally deeper here that shows a huge difference and divergence between’ U.S. values and national security versus European countries offering continued support for the war.
‘There’s something fundamentally deeper here that shows a huge difference and divergence between the values that President Trump and Vice President Vance are fighting for, the values that are enshrined in our Constitution, the interests of the American people in our peace and freedom and national security, versus those of many of these European countries who are coming to Zelenskyy’s side as he walked out of the White House, saying basically, that they are going to support him in continuing this war, and that they don’t stand with us around these fundamental values of freedom,’ she said.
Bream followed-up by asking Gabbard whether she would identify Russia as a country that celebrates freedom similarly to the U.S., which Gabbard denied, adding ‘that’s not really what we’re talking about here.’
‘I would not make that claim, and it’s clear that that’s not the case, nor does President Trump. But that’s not really what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about many of these European countries and Zelenskyy himself, who claim to be standing and fighting for the cause of freedom and democracy, when we actually look at what’s happening in reality in these countries, as well as with the Zelenskyy’s government in Ukraine, is the exact opposite.’
‘You have the canceling of elections in Ukraine. You have political parties being silenced or even criminalized or thrown in prison. You have the freedom of religion, churches being shut down, you have political opposition being silenced, you have total government control of the media.’
‘It really begs the question,’ she continued. ‘As Vice President Vance said again in Munich, it’s clear that they’re standing against Putin. Obviously, that’s clear. But what are they actually really fighting for, and are they aligned with the values that they claim to hold in agreement with us? The values that President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing for, and those are the values of freedom, of peace and true security.’
Zelenskyy’s White House visit was cut short on Friday following the heated exchange, which included Vance asking the Ukraine leader about his gratitude for the U.S.’s assistance across the years, and Trump telling Zelenskyy that Ukraine will either make a deal with the U.S. or battle the war on their own.
‘You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing,’ Trump said on Friday.
As part of the peace deal, the Trump administration was also working to ink an agreement with Ukraine that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for support that the U.S. has offered the nation since war broke out in 2022.
Zelenskyy did join Fox News’ Bret Baier for an exclusive interview on Friday evening, where he was pressed on whether he would apologize to Trump over the meeting.
The Ukraine president, however, did not offer an apology but did say that he respects Trump and the U.S.
‘I’m very thankful to Americans for all your support. You did a lot. I’m thankful to President Trump and to Congress for bipartisan support,’ he responded when asked about an apology. ‘You helped us a lot from the very beginning, during three years of full-scale invasion, you helped us to survive.’
‘No, I respect the president, and I respect American people … I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad,’ he added when asked again whether he believes he owes Trump an apology.