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Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible” as he sought to repair relations with the White House after a dramatic clash last week that led the US to suspend arms deliveries.
In a show of contrition intended to placate President Donald Trump, the Ukrainian leader said their bust-up in the Oval Office was “regrettable”. He said that Kyiv remained committed to signing a minerals deal with the US “at any time and in any convenient format” after plans to sign the agreement were derailed by their dispute.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media platform X.
Trump in recent days repeatedly criticised Zelenskyy for refusing to agree to an immediate ceasefire without security guarantees from the US and for suggesting a peace deal remained a long way off.
“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” Zelenskyy wrote.
On Monday, Trump ratcheted up pressure on Zelenskyy to make concessions for a peace deal by suspending military aid to Ukraine, a move that stunned Ukrainians and their European allies. Stopping weapons deliveries and intelligence assistance could badly weaken Ukraine’s ability to hold the line against Russia’s forces.
Since Friday’s blow-up in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy and his team have sought to mend relations with the Trump administration and get the minerals deal back on track.
The deal had been intended to set up a joint US-Ukrainian “investment fund” that would receive half of all revenues from the “future monetisation” of the country’s natural resources.
Zelenskyy had hoped that the minerals agreement would help move the US, a key ally, closer to providing the guarantees that could bolster a future ceasefire.
However, after the White House meeting between Zelenskyy, Trump and US vice-president JD Vance on Friday devolved into an argument, the Ukrainian leader left Washington before any deal was signed.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, is leading the talks on the Ukrainian side. He said on Monday that he had spoken to Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick about finding a “path toward a just peace” and that signing the minerals deal was “crucial for both our countries”.
Fitzpatrick said in his own X post that the US and Kyiv were “100% getting this train back on the tracks”.
“This mineral deal will be signed in short order,” he said, adding: “Europe will be required to step up and do its part.”
The Ukrainian president also appeared to endorse a French idea for a partial ceasefire that could pave the way for a peace deal with Russia. Trump had criticised Zelenskyy for refusing an immediate ceasefire.
President Emmanuel Macron claimed on Sunday that several European countries had supported the idea of a one-month truce in Ukraine “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”. But London and several other capitals said the French plan had not been discussed.
Zelenskyy on Tuesday mentioned a “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”.
The US decision to suspend military assistance stunned the Ukrainian authorities, who fear that a shortage of anti-air missiles could allow Russia to step up its strike campaign on the country’s energy infrastructure.
Risks related to the supply and maintenance of US-made anti-air Patriot systems exist, the Ukrainian prime minister admitted during a press conference on Tuesday after Washington announced it would suspend military assistance to Ukraine.
“The Patriot is currently the only system able to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles,” Denys Shmyhal said, adding that other aerial threats could be destroyed by additional anti-air systems in Kyiv’s arsenal.
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