Zelensky had said thank you to America ’33 times’ before JD Vance onslaught

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has doubled-down on Vice-President JD Vance’s criticism of for not thanking the President and the American people during yesterday’s hot-tempered meeting in the Oval Office yesterday.

However, Mr Rubio was left squirming as he was made to watch a video of Mr Zelensky repeatedly thanking the United States for the military assistance its given to .

According to Ukrainian MP Mariia Mezentseva, her country’s president has thanked the US on 33 separate occasions for contributing military aid.

In response to the clip, played to Mr Rubio during a CNN interview, the former presidential hopeful was asked whether he could defend the claim that Mr Zelensky had not thanked the US for its help: “I think the Vice-President said he hadn’t today, he hadn’t heard it today in that meeting.

“We were hoping that meeting would begin with ‘thank you for everything you have done for us, we wouldn’t be where we are today without you, we wouldn’t ever have a change to negotiate a peace without the help you gave us'”, he added.

Mr Zelensky had been in Washington to meet with President Trump and sign a landmark minerals deal.

However, after terse exchanges in the Oval Office, the deal was axed, and so too was the joint press conference scheduled to be held by the two leaders.

Instead, Mr Zelensky was asked to leave the White House and was not seen off by Mr Trump.

The President continued to fire shots at his counterpart after he’d left, sarcastically calling him a “big shot”.

Before jetting off to Mar A Lago, Mr Trump told reporters: “I want a ceasefire now. He said, ‘Oh, I don’t want a ceasefire.’

“Well, all of a sudden, he’s a big shot, because he has the US on his side. Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out. And if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty, because without it, without us, he doesn’t win.”