Zelensky calls Trump clash regrettable: 'it's time to make things right'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he regretted last week's Oval Office clash with Donald Trump and wanted to "make things right", in a fulsome statement on Tuesday issued a day after Trump halted military aid to Kyiv.

In his statement, Zelensky said he supported peace negotiations and was ready to sign a deal giving the United States access to Ukrainian minerals, which he had left on the table when he abandoned a visit to Washington after an Oval Office argument with Trump on Friday.

"My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts," Zelensky said in his statement on X.

"We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence," Zelensky wrote. "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. It is time to make things right."

Zelensky outlined a path towards a peace agreement, which he said could begin with a release of prisoners and a halt to air and sea attacks, if Russia did the same.

"Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal."

Earlier, Zelensky's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said Ukraine's forces could hold their own on the battlefield against Russian troops, but that Kyiv would do everything possible so that cooperation with the United States would continue.

Trump has upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia, culminating in the explosive confrontation at the White House on Friday, when Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, upbraided President Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for Washington's backing.

"We will continue to work with the US through all available channels in a calm manner," Shmyhal said. "We only have one plan - to win and to survive. Either we win, or the Plan B will be written by someone else."

TRUMP TO ADDRESS CONGRESS

The Kremlin, for its part, said cutting off military aid to Ukraine was the best possible step towards peace, although it was still waiting to confirm Trump's move.

Trump is expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in a major speech to Congress later on Tuesday.

His abrupt pivot towards Russia may be the most dramatic US geopolitical shift in generations. Defending Europe from a hostile Kremlin has been the lodestar of US foreign and defence policy under both parties since the 1940s.

Trump's moves have appalled Democrats, but have so far drawn little or no pushback from Republican leaders in Congress, including many who were once strong, vocal backers of Ukraine.

"By freezing military aid to Ukraine, President Trump has kicked the door wide open for Putin to escalate his violent aggression against innocent Ukrainians," said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kyiv has relied on US and European military aid to hold off a bigger and better-armed foe throughout three years of warfare that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Shmyhal said Kyiv was doing more to ramp up its own military production, especially of drones. But air defences could be a particular problem if US aid ends, especially the Patriot batteries that are Ukraine's only defence against Russian ballistic missiles aimed at its cities.

Ukrainian officials have said as much as 40% of Ukrainian military supplies came from the United States, with a third from Europe and the rest produced at home. Shmyhal said the aim was to raise domestic production to 50% this year.

The US cut-off is "pretty significant, but not nearly as impactful as it would have been earlier in the war because Ukraine is far less dependent on direct US military assistance now," said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment.

The chart shows the five donors that have allocated the most bilateral aid to Ukraine across sectors between Jan 24, 2022 to Dec 31, 2024.

PRESSURE ON EUROPE

The pause puts more pressure on European allies who have publicly embraced Zelensky since the Oval Office blow-up, led by Britain and France whose leaders both visited the White House last week and have offered troops to help guard a potential ceasefire.

Europeans are racing to boost their own military spending. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday unveiled proposals to raise spending on defence in the EU, which she said could mobilise up to 800 billion euros ($840 billion). The EU is holding an emergency summit on Thursday.

It was now the responsibility of Europe to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine was able to hold the front line, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told lawmakers.

"We Europeans are now faced with a choice that is imposed on us: that of effort and freedom, or that of comfort and servitude," he said.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has avoided any criticism of Trump, said the two leaders had spoken on Monday evening, without commenting on whether Trump had mentioned the aid freeze.

"The prime minister and President Trump are focused on the same outcome, which is delivering a secure and lasting peace in Ukraine," the spokesperson said.

Ukrainians, who have endured three years of war against a more powerful foe, were stunned by a move many described as a betrayal. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said it looked like Trump was "pushing us towards capitulation".

"Yes, it is betrayal, let's call it like it is," said lawyer Olena Bilova, 47 in Kyiv. "But let's hope that American civil society and the elites of the European Union will not leave us alone."