Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his meeting with the US President Donald Trump "did not go as planned" and that this needs to be corrected.
"Our meeting in Washington, at the White House, on Friday [February 28] did not go as planned. It is unfortunate that this happened. It is time to do everything right. We would like to continue to cooperate and communicate constructively," the president said.
Ukraine, according to Zelensky, is ready to sign an agreement on the use of Ukrainian minerals “at any time and in any convenient format”. He considers this a step towards strengthening security and reliable security guarantees.
"We truly appreciate how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence," he added.
Ukraine is also ready to sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring about a reliable peace. According to Zelensky, the first stages could be:
- release of prisoners;
- an immediate ceasefire in the skies: a ban on missiles, long-range drones, and bombing of energy and other civilian infrastructure;
- immediate truce at sea.
Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to do this if Russia does the same. The Ukrainian side is ready to work with the United States to reach a final and strong peace agreement to end the war.
Trump and Zelenskyʼs dispute
During a meeting at the White House on February 28, Zelensky and Trump began to argue and escalated their conversation. It all started with the Ukrainian presidentʼs words about the need to provide Ukraine with security guarantees and actively include Kyiv in the negotiation process.
After that, the journalists left the meeting, and later it became known that the President of Ukraine had left the White House early. Trump said that the President of Ukraine was not ready for peace. The countries did not sign the agreement on Ukrainian minerals.
After that, the US administration stated that Zelensky should apologize for his behavior to Trump. There was no public announcement of US-Ukrainian contacts after February 28.
On the morning of March 4, Trump ordered a suspension of all military aid to Kyiv, Bloomberg reported, ratcheting up pressure on Zelensky after their Oval Office spat. Despite this, the United States continued to share intelligence with Ukraine, according to CNN.
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