Russian leaders cheered after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance dealt Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a brutal smackdown in the Oval Office Friday, reveling in the public breakdown of relations between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Trump turned on the wartime president during a meeting that he had previously touted as a historic moment in which Zelenskyy would sign a framework to a deal that would let the U.S. share revenue from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
Dmitry Medvedev — the former Russian prime minister and president and deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council — was quick to dance on the grave of the U.S.-Ukraine partnership.
“The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” Medvedev wrote on X. “And @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII.’”
He also added in a message posted to his Telegram channel that Zelenskyy got “a fierce scolding in the Oval Office,” and called the embattled leader a “cocaine clown.”
“The ungrateful swine got a hard slap in the face from the owners of the pigsty,” Medvedev wrote. “That’s a good thing, but not enough,” he added repeating the popular Russian narrative likening the Ukrainian government to Nazis.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also chimed in on the name-calling, writing in Russian on Telegram: “How Trump and Vance exercised restraint and didn’t punch this scumbag is a miracle of restraint.”
Zelenskyy has so far kept quiet on his Friday afternoon lashing, opting instead for a note emphasizing his gratitude on X — after Trump repeatedly scolded him for not being “more thankful.”
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
Though Friday’s meltdown marked the most public display of frustration between Trump and Zelenskyy, there have been rising tensions between the two leaders — encouraged on by Russian officials.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave Trump an approving nod last week when he slammed Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections” and falsely claimed he started the war with Russia, saying the American administration “understands” the Kremlin’s “position.”
Gregory Svirnovskiy contributed to this report.
