Volodymyr Zelensky has been forced to grovel to Donald Trump after the U.S. president kicked him out of the White House following a spectacular shouting match in the Oval Office.
Hopes for a truce between Russia and Ukraine were left in turmoil after Zelensky was seized upon by Trump, Vice President JD Vance and even MAGA-friendly reporters during the hostile summit on Friday. The expected signing of a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal also flew off the negotiating table and the Ukrainian delegation headed back to Europe, and back to the drawing board.
Now, just hours after Trump paused aid to Ukraine in response to the fractious affair, Zelensky has signaled that he is ready to acquiesce to the MAGA chief’s demands.
The Ukrainian president wrote on X Tuesday that things “did not go the way it was supposed to be,” referring to the ugly scenes broadcast to the world. “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,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader also reiterated his commitment to peace. He added that he’s ready to sign a U.S. minerals deal “any time and in any convenient format” to help achieve this.
“We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,” he said. “My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he said, perhaps in an attempt to stroke his counterpart’s ego.
Zelensky doubled down on the fact that he is now ready to work “fast” on a truce, which could comprise of a prisoner exchange, a ban on air and sea warfare as well as a halt on the targeting of energy and civilian infrastructure.
“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. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the U.S. to agree a strong final deal," Zelensky wrote.
The Oval Office showdown spilled over after JD Vance suggested Zelensky wasn’t thankful enough for U.S. support, a line immediately seized by MAGA Republicans in the wake of the ugly meeting.
Zelensky made sure to allay any repeat of this accusation in his X statement, writing: “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. We are grateful for this.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, responding to his X post, said he welcomed a Zelensky return to the White House.
“I’m heartened by the development that President Zelensky has indicated that he does want to do this deal after all,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I certainly encourage that to happen. He needs to come and make right what happened last week—the shocking developments in the Oval Office.”
However, Fox News reported Monday that the minerals deal would be stuck in a stalemate until Zelensky apologized for the spat on camera.
Fox correspondent Peter Doocy shared that a senior White House official told him no progress will happen until Zelensky “goes in front of cameras and makes an explicit public apology for the way he behaved in the Oval Office.” Therefore, it remains to be seen if Zelensky’s social media about-face will appease a fired up Trump.
On Sunday, Zelensky said that he would return to the White House if invited. On the same day, however, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz suggested that Ukraine needed to give up territory to Russia to end the war, a proposal that Zelensky is unlikely to budge on.
