Ukraine’s Zelensky says he can salvage relationship with US

LONDON - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 2 that he believed he could salvage his relationship with US President Donald Trump after their explosive meeting in the Oval Office, but that talks needed to continue behind closed doors.

Mr Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine would not concede any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.

He said he was still willing to sign a minerals deal with the US, and described a discussion on March 2 with European leaders to send a draft peace plan to the US as a key development.

In an extraordinary meeting that was

broadcast live

on Feb 28, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of being ungrateful for US aid, of showing disrespect to his country and of risking World War III, casting into doubt Washington’s ongoing support for Ukraine in its three-year-long war with Russia.

Mr Zelensky spoke to reporters at a London airport after a summit with European leaders in London on March 2.

While he seemed in good spirits and thanked European countries for their support, the Ukrainian leader was careful to balance his dismay over the events of the Oval Office meeting on Feb 28 with a clear desire to keep talking with Washington.

Mr Zelensky said he did not think the US would stop its assistance to Ukraine, because as “leaders of the civilised world”, they would not want to help Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he said he remained prepared for any outcome.

“As regards to salvaging the relationship, I think our relationship will continue,” he told reporters via a translator after the London meeting.

But he added: “I do not think it’s right when such discussions are totally open... The format of what happened, I don’t think it brought something positive or additional to us as partners.”

A visibly shaken Mr Zelensky arrived in London on March 1, where he was met with a warm embrace from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and by cheering supporters around Downing Street.

At the summit on March 2, Mr Starmer said European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to take to the US, in the hope that Washington would offer the security guarantees Kyiv says are vital to deter Russia.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine relied on the US as its top military backer and that stopping the supply of weapons would only help Mr Putin.

“The US are... leaders of the civilised world, and they will not help Putin,” he added.

An influential Russian parliamentarian, Mr Konstantin Kosachev, on March 2 derided the hopes for Europe’s stepping up to forge a peace plan. “And if Ukraine should count on something, it can only be on progress (if there is any to come) in Russian-American relations,” he wrote on Telegram.

Ready to sign minerals deal

The abrupt ending to Mr Zelensky’s Washington trip meant that the two countries failed to sign a much vaunted minerals deal that Kyiv hoped would spur Mr Trump to back Ukraine’s war effort, but Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was still willing to sign it.

“We agreed upon signing it, and we were ready to sign it. And honestly, I believe the United States would be ready as well,” he added.

Mr Trump had sought to cast the minerals deal as a way for Ukraine, which is home to a trove of lithium deposits and rare earth minerals, to repay the US for its billions of dollars in aid.

While Mr Zelensky sought to avoid any further antagonism of the US, saying he did not want to go over what had happened, he was more forceful on any future ceasefire deal, saying Kyiv would not hand sovereignty of occupied Ukrainian land to Russia.

“Everyone needs to understand that Ukraine will never recognise whatever is occupied by Russia as Russian territories,” he said.

“We hope that these security guarantees will make it 100 per cent impossible to give Russia the opportunity to come with another aggression.”

Mr Zelensky said there had been contact between Kyiv and Washington since Feb 28, although not at his level, and when asked if he had considered resigning, he showed no sign of wavering.

“As regards to resignation, if I’m to be changed... it will not be easy because it is not enough to simply hold elections. You would need to prevent me from participating in the elections, and it will be a bit more difficult.”

Some Republican leaders had suggested that Mr Zelensky needed to resign after the meeting on Feb 28 with Mr Trump.

Mr Zelensky repeated, however, that if Ukraine was granted Nato membership, he would have fulfilled his mission. REUTERS