US State Secretary Marco Rubio criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his fiery war of words with US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the White House. 

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Rubio was also sitting next to JD Vance in the Oval Office when Zelensky was having the conversation with Trump. 

In an exclusive interview with CNN, the US State Secretary said that Zelensky wasted our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did. 

Also read: 'Grateful to US, Trump': 'Immensely' thankful Zelensky, hints at being friends with Trump after ugly WH spat

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He further demanded that the Ukrainian president should "apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became." 

Rubio's remarks and demand for Zelensky's apology comes after the Ukrainian president, in an interview with Fox News clarified that he did not owe any apology to Trump after the heated exchange. 

“We've explained very clearly what our plan is here, which is, we want to get the Russians to the negotiating table,” Rubio stated, adding that the President led a campaign to end the war in Ukraine. “We want to explore whether peace is possible.”

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Also read: Elon Musk demands account of 'hundreds of billions of dollars sent to Ukraine' after Trump-Zelensky clash

He further reiterated the Trump government's position that the minerals agreement would connect the US and Ukrainian economies by discouraging Russia. 

“When you start talking about that aggressively – and the president is a deal maker, he made deals his entire life – you’re not going to get people to the table,” Rubio said.

“And so you start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t,” he added.

Following the meeting, Trump ordered Zelensky to leave the White House despite a desire from the Ukrainian leader to continue the talks. 

Also read: 'What if a Bomb Drops on Your Head Now?' Trump's remark during clash with Zelensky goes viral - WATCH

(With inputs from agencies)