MOSCOW: Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday said US President Donald Trump showed "restraint" by not hitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their shouting match in the White House.
"I think Zelensky's biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support," she wrote on Telegram.
"How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint," she said, adding that Zelensky was "biting the hand that feeds him."
She accused Zelensky of being "unpleasant with everyone."
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy head of Russia's Security Council, called Zelensky an "insolent pig" who had received "a proper slap down in the Oval Office."
Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, called the heated confrontation between Trump and Zelensky "historic".
Dmitriev was one of Moscow's negotiators in the Russian-American talks held on February 18 in Saudi Arabia -- the first since Russia began its Ukraine offensive in 2022.
During an intense Oval Office meeting on Friday, Trump shouted at Zelenskyy, accusing him of risking millions of lives and warning that his actions might lead to World War III.
In response, Zelenskyy abruptly departed the White House without signing a crucial minerals agreement with the US, which Trump had insisted upon and implied was a prerequisite for continued support to Ukraine.
A CNN report said Trump and Zelenskyy went to separate rooms after their heated exchange, “with the Ukrainians wanting the talks to continue. The White House, however, made it clear it was time for them to go. Trump ordered that the Ukrainians be told to leave, according to a White House official.”
