Zelenskyy calls Oval Office spat with Trump 'regrettable,' says he's
ready to work for Ukraine peace
[March 05, 2025]
By SAMYA KULLAB and HANNA ARHIROVA
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
Tuesday that the Oval Office blowup with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump
last week was “regrettable,” adding that he stands ready to work under
Trump's “strong leadership” to get a lasting peace.
Zelenskyy’s remarks — an apparent attempt to placate Trump — came in a
social media post on X, hours after the White House announced a pause in
military aid to Ukraine that is critical to fighting Russia’s invasion.
But later during his nightly address, Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine
hadn't received direct notification from the U.S. that aid had been cut
and was seeking confirmation.
“I have instructed Ukraine’s minister of defense, the heads of our
intelligence agencies and our diplomats to contact their counterparts in
the United States and obtain official information. People should not
have to guess,” he said.
“Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position
from one another. Especially when it comes to protecting lives during a
full-scale war,” he added, saying that military aid had been cut once
before in January for a brief period.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine is ready to sign a lucrative deal on
rare-earth minerals and security with Washington. Trump said during his
address to Congress late Tuesday that he received a letter from
Zelenskyy saying as much and that it noted Kyiv valued “how much America
has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.”
“I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago,”
Trump said. "Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussion with Russia
and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace."
Earlier, in an apparent reference to Trump’s criticism following the
contentious White House meeting Friday that Zelenskyy does not want a
peace deal, the Ukrainian leader said, “None of us want an endless war.”
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible
to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the
Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s
strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he said.
Asked by reporters in Moscow about Zelenskyy voicing readiness for the
resumption of talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “It’s good,
it’s positive.”
In his post, Zelenskyy said the Oval Office meeting "did not go the way
it was supposed to be."
“It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things
right,” he added. "We would like future cooperation and communication to
be constructive.”
The pause of U.S. military aid catapulted Ukraine into alarm and
apprehension. Zelenskyy’s statement came before Trump was expected to
address the U.S. Congress later Tuesday.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to
sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” Zelenskyy said. “We
see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security
guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone successively with Trump
and Zelenskyy, Macron's office said, and “welcomes” the Ukrainian's
“willingness to re-engage in dialogue with the U.S.” It released no
details about the discussion with Trump.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also spoke to the Ukrainian leader and
“welcomed President Zelenskyy’s steadfast commitment to securing peace.”
Zelenskyy’s post came as officials in Kyiv said they were grateful for
vital U.S. help in the war and want to keep working with Washington.
Ukraine’s prime minister, though, said the country still wants security
guarantees to be part of any peace deal and won’t recognize Russian
occupation of any Ukrainian land. Those are potential stumbling blocks
for Washington and Moscow, respectively.
Ukraine and its allies are concerned Trump is pushing for a quick
ceasefire that will favor Russia, which Kyiv says cannot be trusted to
honor truces.
A White House official said the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid
to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The order will remain
in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a
commitment to peace negotiations, said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.
The pause in U.S. aid isn’t expected to have an immediate impact on the
battlefield. Ukrainian forces have slowed Russian advances along the
1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, especially in the fiercely
contested Donetsk region in the east. The Russian onslaught has been
costly in troops and armor but hasn’t brought a strategically
significant breakthrough for the Kremlin.
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A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire a M777 howitzer towards
Russian positions at the frontline near Donetsk, Ukraine, Monday,
March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)
Ukraine needs help to fight Russia
Ukraine, which depends heavily on foreign help to hold back Russia’s
full-scale invasion that began on Feb. 24, 2022, has feared that aid
could be stopped since Trump took office.
U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems, for example, are
pivotal to protecting Ukraine. Just as vital is U.S. intelligence
assistance, which has allowed Ukraine to track Russian troop
movements and select targets.
“I feel betrayed, but this feeling is not really deep for some
reason. I was expecting something like that from Trump’s side,” said
a Ukrainian soldier fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine
launched a daring incursion in August 2024 to improve its hand in
negotiations. The soldier spoke by phone to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the
media.
On the front line, where Ukraine is struggling to fend off the
larger and better-equipped Russian army, another soldier said the
U.S. decision would allow further battlefield gains for Moscow.
“War is very pragmatic,” he told AP, speaking on condition of
anonymity in compliance with military regulations. “If we have
weapons, enough ammunition, infantry, armored vehicles and aviation
— great. If not, then we’re done,” he said.
He recalled a seven-month delay in U.S. aid that ended in April 2024
but opened a door for Russia's capture of the strategic city of
Avdiivka.
Olena Fedorova, 46, of the southern port city of Odesa, said she
hoped Trump’s decision would be temporary because “we really need
help.”
U.S. support is vital because Europe cannot fully provide what
Ukraine needs in air defense systems, leading to increased civilian
casualties, said lawmaker Yehor Chernov.
The suspension of U.S. military aid is already being felt at a hub
in eastern Poland that has been used to ferry Western weapons into
neighboring Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
The U.S.-Ukraine relationship has taken a downturn since Trump took
office and his team launched bilateral talks with Russia.
Trump had vowed during his campaign to settle the war in 24 hours,
but later changed that time frame and voiced hope that peace could
be negotiated in six months.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said U.S. help is “vital” and
has saved “perhaps tens of thousands” of civilian and military
lives. But he emphasized that any peace agreement must be “on
Ukraine’s terms, as the victim country.”
Ukraine wants “concrete security guarantees” from Washington,
European countries and Group of Seven leading industrialized
nations, he said. Giving up territory to Russia, which occupies
nearly 20% of Ukraine, “is not possible” under the U.N. Charter, he
said.
European allies stress support for Kyiv
Noting that the U.S. has been “the chief supplier" of aid to
Ukraine, Peskov said that if Washington suspends these supplies, "it
will make the best contribution to peace.”
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. had not consulted with or
informed NATO countries before announcing the pause.
Russia will likely try to use the halt in supplies to extend its
territorial gains and strengthen its position in prospective peace
talks.
Andrei Kartapolov, a retired general who heads a defense committee
in parliament, told Russia's state RIA news agency that Ukraine
would exhaust its current ammunition reserves within months.
“We need to keep up the pressure and continue to target their bases
and depots with long-range precision weapons to destroy the
stockpiles,” he said.
Ukraine’s European allies, meanwhile, reaffirmed their commitment to
Kyiv.
The chief of the European Union’s executive proposed an
800-billion-euro ($841 billion) plan to bolster defenses of EU
nations and provide Ukraine with military muscle.
The U.K. government, which has been leading European efforts to keep
Trump from pushing to end the war on terms that could favor Moscow,
said it remains “absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in
Ukraine.”
Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United
Services Institute, a London-based defense think tank, said
Washington’s move could encourage Russia to seek more Ukrainian
concessions, including demilitarization and neutrality.
___
Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, and Aamer
Madhani, Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to
this report.
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