Washington: President Donald Trump shouted at Ukraine's leader on Friday during an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office, berating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “gambling with millions of lives” and suggesting his actions could trigger World War III.

Zelenskyy then abruptly left the White House without signing a critical minerals deal with the US that Trump had demanded and suggested was a condition for future support for Ukraine. Untouched salad plates and other lunch items were being packed up outside the Cabinet room where the lunch between Trump and Zelenskyy and their delegations was sup-posed to have taken place. The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute engagement devolved into a tense back and forth between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelen-skyy — who had urged skepticism about Russia's commitment to diplo-macy, citing Moscow's years of broken commitments on the global stage. It began with Vance telling Zelenskyy, “Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

Zelenskyy tried to object, prompting Trump to raise his voice and say, “You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that's backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump said.