Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on social media he and Ukraine are still committed to working with President Donald Trump and “it is time to make things right,” one day after Trump announced a pause on military aid to Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s contentious visit to the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office at ... [+]
Zelenskyy said in the X statement Ukraine does not want “an endless war” and is ready to “come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.”
Zelenskyy’s statement was posted just before 11 a.m. EST Tuesday, less than one day after Trump ordered a pause on all military aid for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia until he felt Ukraine’s leaders “demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace,” Bloomberg reported.
The pause in aid came days after Zelenskyy, Trump and Vice President JD Vance had a heated exchange in the Oval Office in which American leadership criticized Zelenskyy for a lack of gratitude and Trump threatened he was “gambling with World War III.”
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“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelenskyy said in the statement. “It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”
$66.5 billion. That’s about how much U.S. aid and military assistance has been sent to Ukraine since its war with Russia began in February 2022.
Russia invaded Ukraine more than three years ago and the countries have been warring since, with the U.S. and European countries largely backing Ukraine against President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But Trump was critical of former President Joe Biden’s support of Ukraine, and regularly said throughout his presidential campaign the war would not have begun had he been president at the time Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump met with Zelenskyy last week in the White House for the signing of a minerals deal that would see Ukraine put some proceeds from its state-owned mineral resources to a jointly owned fund with the U.S. as a way to pay the U.S. back for its support during the war, but the meeting devolved into a shouting match in which Trump told Zelenskyy he and Ukraine “don’t have the cards” to beat Russia without U.S. support. Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the deal, and the meeting drew criticism from Democrats who said Trump’s behavior made the U.S. look weak.
Trump’s response to Zelenskyy’s statement.
Trump Freezes Ukraine Aid After Confrontation With Zelenskyy (Forbes)
Trump, Zelenskyy, Vance Face Off In Oval Office Shouting Match—Here’s Everything They Said (Forbes)