Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called his contentious meeting last week with President Trump at the White House a “regrettable” gathering but stopped short of issuing an apology for the public blowup.
In a post online, Zelensky signaled Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table to end the three-year-war with Russia.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on the social platform X. “It is time to make things right.”
“We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive,” he added.
Zelensky reiterated on Tuesday that his country is committed to reaching a peace deal, and he is ready to sign the mineral deal to reinvigorate cooperation between the war-torn country and the U.S. The two leaders were expected to sign the agreement, which would give Washington access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in exchange for security guarantees, on Friday, but the clash derailed the plan.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” he wrote on X. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
Earlier Tuesday, Vice President Vance told reporters the Ukrainian president’s potential apology to Trump over the Friday Oval Office meeting was not as important as Kyiv expressing a strong intention to reach a deal.
“A lot of people have made this about public statements. ‘President Zelensky needs to say he is committed to the peace,’ [or] ‘President Zelensky needs to apologize to the president.’ The public stuff doesn’t matter nearly as much as what are the Ukrainians doing to meaningfully engage on what a peaceful settlement would look like,” Vance said from Capitol Hill.
The vice president instead argued that Ukrainians need to come “privately” to Trump’s team and “say this is what we need, this is what we want. This is how we’ll participate in the process to end this conflict.”
“That’s the most important thing, and that lack of private engagement is what is most concerning to us,” he added.
Tensions have been simmering between the leaders for months. Trump has previously hammered Zelensky over his leadership, accusing him of being a “dictator without elections,” doing a “terrible job” as the country’s head official and blaming Kyiv for starting the war in Eastern Europe.
The Ukrainian president has shot back, alleging that Trump lives in a “disinformation space,” and questioning the administration’s peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, Trump, along with Vance, went after Zelensky, arguing he was insufficiently grateful for U.S. military assistance and that his leverage in reaching a ceasefire with Russia was miniscule.
Trump called off the signing of the minerals deal and claimed his Ukrainian counterpart was not prepared to reach a peace deal. Zelensky, after the meeting, told Fox News’s Bret Baier in an interview that he would not apologize for the heated back-and-forth.
On Monday, Trump instituted a freeze on all U.S. aid going to Ukraine.
Zelensky said Tuesday that his team is “ready” to work with Trump’s administration to bring an end to the conflict with Moscow, echoing comments he made over the weekend.
“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same,” Zelensky wrote.
“Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader also expressed gratitude for the aid the U.S. has provided.
“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins,” Zelensky said. “We are grateful for this.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the Senate’s most forceful supporters of Ukraine, praised Trump after Friday’s meeting and said Zelensky needs to “fundamentally change or go.”
“I can’t believe most Americans after what they saw today would want to be partners with Zelensky,” Graham said.
He also appeared to approve of Zelensky’s new approach on Tuesday, writing on X that “Better days are ahead.”
