Trump Says Zelenskyy Slept Through a Meeting With Scott Bessent. Photos Say Otherwise

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, was met with “rude treatment” during his visit to Kyiv last week. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump alleged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was unavailable for a meeting because he was “asleep,” CNN reported on February 20.

“Scott Bessent actually went there and was treated rather rudely, because essentially, they told him no and Zelenskyy was sleeping and unavailable to meet him. He traveled many hours on the train, which is a dangerous trip, and we’re talking about the secretary of the Treasury. He went there to get a document signed, and when he got there, he came back empty. They wouldn’t sign the document.,” Trump said.

Bessent visited Kyiv on February 12 to discuss economic partnership with Ukraine and did, in fact, meet with Zelenskyy.

Following their talks, the Ukrainian President announced that the U.S. had presented Kyiv with a draft partnership agreement, outlining investments in Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for further assistance.

Trump administration proposed that the U.S. receive a 50% stake in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in return for continued aid, but Zelenskyy refused to sign the agreement.

“The document was vague; it was only clear about one thing—we must give up 50% of everything listed in it. We are not afraid of the publicity of this document. I am ready for transparency,” Zelenskyy said.

“I am defending Ukraine. I cannot sell our state. I said—write down some security guarantees, and we will write down some percentages. They only said 50%, and I said no,” he added.

Zelenskyy emphasized the need to carefully examine the details before or during the Munich Security Conference to finalize agreements at the highest levels.

Bessent, meanwhile, described the document as a key component of U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine and called it “an important signal to the Russian leadership that we stand together” in economic cooperation with Kyiv.

This statement comes amid a sequence of other false claims made by President Trump earlier, including saying that Zelenskyy is a “dictator without elections” and that his approval rating had “dropped to 4%.”

Earlier, European leaders rejected recent comments by Trump, who referred to Zelenskyy as a dictator and questioned his democratic legitimacy.