To the surprise of many, U.S. Sen. Linsey Graham (R-SC) is arguing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ought to resign. 

Graham made the statement, according to Fox News, following President Donald Trump's decision to have Zelensky removed from the White House - a decision that came after Trump said that Zelensky had "disrespected" America.

Graham is one of those individuals who has come to Trump's defense - by now going so far as to call for Zelensky to resign.

What makes this so surprising is that Graham, in recent years, has been one of the biggest supporters in Congress of Ukraine in its war against Russia, consistently voting in favor of providing more assistance for Zelensky and his people.

Graham weighs in

Graham provided his view on the matter during an interview that he did with the Fox News Channel shortly after Zelensky was thrown out of the White House.

Graham said:

What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we could ever do business with Zelensky again. I think most Americans saw a guy that they would not want to go in business with, the way he handled the meeting.

The senator went on to say that he has "never been more proud of the president," adding "I was very proud of JD Vance standing up for our country."

Graham was then asked whether, in his view, Zelensky ought to resign from his position of president of Ukraine. Graham certainly did not say no.

Rather, he said, "He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change."

Not ready for peace?

The Trump administration has been working behind the scenes to secure a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Zelensky was supposed to appear at the White House on Friday in order to take a step in this direction by signing a mineral rights deal with the United States.

The purpose of the deal was at least twofold: on the one hand, Trump is looking to get America some return for the hundreds of billions of dollars that it has given to Ukraine, and, on the other hand, the deal would lead to the presence of America in Ukraine, which would likely stop Russia from attacking it further.

The deal, however, never got signed on Friday. Rather, it went off the rails thanks to Zelensky.

The New York Post reports:

The Oval Office meeting began with warm exchanges and handshakes, with Trump at one point saying of Zelensky: “I think he’s a great guy.” But matters took an ugly turn after Zelensky attempted to explain Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of diplomacy to Vance.

This led to a shouting match, which eventually ended in Zelensky being removed from the White House. Trump subsequently argued that Zelensky did not appear ready to make peace, and he told the Ukrainian president to come back when he is ready to do so.