This is the exchange which triggered the astonishing and graceless performance in the Oval Office this afternoon by Donald Trump and JD Vance:

Vance: For four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is, maybe, engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.

Zelenskyy: Can I ask you?

Vance: Sure, yeah.

Zelenskyy: OK. So he occupied it, our parts, big parts of Ukraine, parts of east and Crimea. So he occupied it in 2014. So during a lot of years — I’m not speaking about just Biden, but those times was Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump. And God bless, now, President Trump will stop him. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the ...

Trump: 2015?

Zelenskyy: 2014.

Trump: Oh, 2014? I was not here.

Vance: That’s exactly right.

Zelenskyy: Yes, but during 2014 ‘til 2022, the situation is the same, that people have been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him, me, like, you, president, in 2019, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, Macron and Merkel. We signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. But after that he broke the ceasefire. He killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. But he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?

Vance: I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country. Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.

Zelenskyy: Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?

Vance: I have been to ...

Zelenskyy: Come once.

Vance: I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems, bringing people into your military?

Zelenskyy: We have problems ...

Vance: And do you think that is respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

From this point Trump and Vance became increasingly loud and offensive.  It was astonishing that the world’s press should witness such low and stupid behaviour from the two most powerful politicians in America.  The plain truth, of course, is that with or without a signature on a minerals agreement they have absolutely no intention of lifting a finger to dissuade Vladimir Putin from re-starting his attacks.  They are pretending that a ceasefire agreement without security is just as solid as one with security, and they know that’s simply not true.  When Zelensky exposed the deceit they responded with chaff about his supposed lack of gratitude for past support, and about his not wanting peace.  It was a deflection technique - and it might also have contained an element of revenge after Zelensky roasted a White House emissary sent to Kiev last week with a third completely worthless draft agreement.

The demand that Zelensky apologise was weirdly wrong-headed.  All the noise and arrogance - and mafia-like threats - came from the American pair.  In Moscow the reborn nuclear thug Dmitry Medvedev found time to celebrate by calling Zelensky “the insolent pig”.  The Trump White House and the Kremlin deserve each other.