Ukrainian Member of Parliament Kira Rudik took issue with a statement from Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy step down following his confrontation with President Donald Trump on Friday.
Trump and Zelenskyy's Oval Office meeting quickly veered off the rails after Vice President JD Vance questioned the Ukrainian president campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris and his overall “disrespectful” demeanor. Trump followed and said Zelenskyy was “gambling with World War III” and threatened the Ukrainian president, “either you’re going to make a deal or we’re out.”
In response to the heated conversation, Graham called it a “complete and utter disaster adding, “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we could ever do business with Zelenskyy again.” He added, “I think most Americans saw a guy that they would not want to go into business with, the way he handled the meeting.”
“He either needs to resign or send someone over that we can do business with or he needs to change,” Graham said.
CNN’s Boris Sanchez asked Rudik her opinion on Graham’s comments: “Kira, what is your reaction to hearing Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and even others within the administration saying that Zelenskyy would have to fundamentally change his point of view or potentially step down?”
“With all due respect, in Ukraine, we elect our own presidents, and we are known to start revolutions if we think that they are not acting at our best interest,” she answered. “So, it’s not up to Russian president or American president or American officials to tell the Ukrainian people who should be our president.”