Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described his heated exchange with US President Donald Trump in the White House as “not good for both sides.”
“I think this kind of spat is not good for both sides,” Zelenskyy told Fox News in an interview following the heated arguemnt with US President and Vice President JD Vance.
The 45-minute press briefing turned into a shouting match between the leaders and resulted in the cancellation of a planned US-Ukraine mineral agreement signing. Trump later ordered Ukrainian officials to leave the White House despite protests from the delegation.
“He can come back when he is ready for peace,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting.
The US president told reporters before leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort that Zelenskyy was “looking for something that I’m not looking for.”
“Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out, and if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty because without us, he doesn’t win,” Trump claimed.
Zelenskyy defended his position in the Fox News interview, saying Ukraine is “ready for peace but we need to be in a good position.”
“We want peace… that’s why I visited President Trump,” the Ukrainian leader explained. He expressed hope that Trump would show stronger support for Ukraine rather than positioning himself as a mediator in the war.
“I want really him to be more at our side,” Zelenskyy said, emphasizing that Russia was the aggressor who launched the invasion.
When asked if he needed to apologize to Trump, Zelenskyy responded: “No, I respect president, and I respect American people, and I think that we have to be very open and very honest and I’m not sure that we did something bad.”
Despite the tension, Zelenskyy expressed confidence that bilateral relations could be salvaged.
“Yes, of course, because it’s more than to the president. It’s a historical relations between our people,” he said.
Zelenskyy also discussed Ukraine’s stance on ending the war. “I cannot simply say ‘stop.’ Nobody will stop because everybody is afraid Putin will return tomorrow,” he stated in the interview.
The Ukrainian president emphasized that his country wants “a fair and sustainable peace” backed by security guarantees.
The Ukrainian president arrived at the White House on 28 Feb. to sign a minerals agreement with Trump. During their meeting, Zelenskyy showed Trump photos of Ukrainian prisoners held in Russian captivity.
Zelenskyy told Trump that territorial compromises with Vladimir Putin, whom he called “a killer and terrorist,” were impossible.
The meeting ended with a heated argument about the Russia-Ukraine war. US Vice President JD Vance claimed that the war should be resolved through diplomacy. Zelenskyy responded that he had previously signed an agreement with Putin in the presence of the French president and German chancellor, but Putin disrupted the deal more than 20 times and laucnhed a full-scale invasion in 2022.
The Ukrainian president warned that if a bad agreement were signed between Russia and Ukraine, the United States would “feel it.” Trump and Vance objected to this statement, responding “we’ll be fine” and adding that Zelenskyy had no right to impose his opinion.
After the meeting at the White House, the presidents should have had a joint press conference and signed the minerals agreement. However, the press conference has been canceled and Zelenskyy left the White House.
Read also:
- The peace trap: Five ways Putin wins if Ukraine freezes the war
- Zelenskyy exits White House without signing planned mineral deal
- “Meals remained untouched”: Trump orders Zelenskyy to leave White House after tense exchange
