Journalists reported that Vance remained silent for a long time, but after 20 minutes he decided to join the discussion. His motivation was to support Trump when a question was posed about the relationship with the illegitimate president of the aggressor country, Russia, Vladimir Putin.
The situation escalated after Zelensky reminded everyone of Putin's repeated violations of agreements, to which Vance responded with a rebuke, accusing the Ukrainian leader of insufficient gratitude towards Trump.
American officials indicate that even before Vance intervened, both he and Trump were growing increasingly frustrated with Zelensky for not accepting certain statements from the U.S. president and insisting on the need for a broader peace agreement rather than the mineral agreement that was planned to be signed, according to sources from the publication.
When Vance verbally attacked Zelensky, Trump, according to administration officials, was taken aback.
Since then, he has mentioned several times to White House staff that his former vice president Mike Pence would never have acted in such a manner.