Sean Penn: Zelensky-Trump fight shouldn't eclipse Russia's crimes

American actor and film director Sean Penn hopes the “chaos” seen in Friday’s tense Oval Office exchange between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not create further division between the nations.

“Remember where we really stand, and what this is really about,” Penn implored in a Friday night interview on NewsNation's "CUOMO."

He pointed to the people dying on the front lines in Ukraine each day, "dying honoring the very thing we honor most, which is freedom," and urged Americans to see through the politicians' "personality chaos."

On Friday, the pair of presidents met to discuss a mineral deal and the future of American aid to Ukraine amid its war with Russia. But the leaders' conversation, with some interjections from Vice President Vance, quickly turned sour.

Trump told Zelensky, “You’re not really in a good position right now" and said the leader was "gambling with World War III."

On social platform X, the Ukrainian leader said what his country needs is peace.

“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people," he wrote online. "Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. Zelensky and Trump openly clashed in the White House on February 28 at a meeting where they were due to sign a deal on sharing Ukraine's mineral riches and discuss a peace deal with Russia. "You're not acting at all thankful. It's not a nice thing," Trump said. "It’s going to be very hard to do business like this," he added. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump oval office

"Superpower" co-director Penn spent extended time with Zelensky for the film and saw the outbreak of fighting in 2022 firsthand.

Penn praised the Ukrainian president's leaders, whom he described as "so constantly, extemporaneously genuine" in his fight for the nation.

"I think the last significant moment that that we were bridging a division was in support of Ukraine and its and its head of state," Penn said. "And if we lose track of that, we really have to ask ourselves if we're losing track of the value of democracy."

The presidents met just a week after Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections" and seemingly blamed the three-year-long war on Ukraine.

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