NSA Mike Waltz: 'Hypocritical Pearl-Clutching' Is 'Ridiculous'

Criticism for President Donald Trump over standing firm against a defiant Volodymyr Zelenskyy is "ridiculous" and "hypocritical pearl-clutching," according to national security adviser Mike Waltz.

"The No. 1 goal of the failed Ukraine mineral deal Zelenskyy balked at in the name of security guarantees was to get to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war on Ukraine, and it was no "ambush," Waltz told Sunday's CNN "State of the Union."

"The president is trying to end this war: He campaigned on it; he was elected on it; and that's going to take tough diplomacy," Waltz told CNN's Dana Bash. "Who would criticize us? But you have members of Democrats that are criticizing us for dealing with the Russians, the same Democrats that had no problem dealing with the murderous Iranian regime in an Iran deal that was horrific and used the Russians as intermediaries.

"I think you've got one of those senators [Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.] coming on your show.

"So I'm finding the kind of hypocritical pearl-clutching in Washington, D.C., to be, well, a bit ridiculous."

It takes two sides and the mediator in Trump to bring Putin's war in Ukraine to an end, but Zelenskyy's defiant posture in the Oval Office risked Putin never coming to the table, according to Waltz.

"Well, you know, it wasn't clear to us that President Zelenskyy was ready to negotiate in good faith toward an end to this war," Waltz told Bash. "You know, for us, kind of talking about the details and demands of security guarantees before, as President Trump said, 'Look, I don't know that we can get both sides to the table at this point.'

"And, you know, you can't kind of trash the other side going, you know, litigating through the history of this conflict if we're going to bring both sides to the table.

"Further, coming to the Oval Office, you know, with the body language, the shaking of head, the, you know, the kind of the arms crossed. We just it we found it incredibly disrespectful."

The minerals deal would have provided Ukraine de facto U.S. security because of shared economic interest against future Putin aggression, and Waltz categorically rejected talk it was an "ambush" on Zelenskyy.

"We were ready to sign that deal," Waltz said. "I want to address directly that this was some type of ambush. It is absolutely false.

"We had negotiated the minerals deal in the weeks prior. It was difficult. But we, it was done and finalized and ready to be signed in the East Room."

But, Zelenskyy – arguing Putin does not abide by agreements – went ahead and reneged on an agreement with the most important ally in the U.S., stunning irony, Waltz noted.

Demands on security guarantees from the U.S. is ignoring the reality that security in Ukraine has to permanently come from it and Europe, not the U.S., according to Waltz.

"This needs to be a permanent end not a temporary end," he said. "This needs to be European-led security guarantees going forward. Part of that is Europe's contribution to its own defense, so it has the capability to do so. We've had both the United Kingdom and France talking about their troops on the ground going forward.

"And then, you know, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. What type of support we provide or not is to be negotiated. But one thing is clear: We do not see Ukraine being a member of NATO, because that would automatically drag U.S. troops in."

Criticism on Trump for working toward peace is misguided, Waltz concluded.

"What I'm saying is this war needs to end, and that's going to take concessions on territory that's going to take Russian concessions on security guarantees, that's going to take all sides coming to the table," he said.

"And we are working very hard to drive those negotiations forward. We had our engagement in Riyadh with the Russians. We are working to have an engagement, we thought, a deal with the Ukrainians, and then we'll bring all sides together.

"Only President Trump can do that, and I find it incredulous he's being criticized for that."