Zelensky calls Trump clash ‘regrettable’ and says Ukraine ready to negotiate

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 4 he regretted last week’s extraordinary Oval Office clash with US President Donald Trump and wanted to “make things right”, adding that Kyiv was ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

Four sources told Reuters that the Trump administration and Ukraine plan to sign a deal giving the US access to Ukrainian minerals in return for military aid. Later on March 4, however, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News: “There is no signing planned,” according to a post on X by a Fox reporter.

In a fulsome statement issued a day after Mr Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said he was ready to sign “any time and in any convenient format” a deal giving the United States access to Ukrainian minerals. He had left the deal on the table when he abandoned a visit to Washington after an Oval Office argument with Mr Trump on Feb 28.

“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians,” Mr Zelensky said in his statement on X.

“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

The statement made no mention of the pause in US military supplies, the latest move by Mr Trump to upend US policy on Ukraine and adopt a more conciliatory stance towards Russia. But the statement was clearly aimed at stressing Kyiv’s gratitude amid the fallout from the explosive confrontation at the White House on Feb 28, during which Mr Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance upbraided Mr Zelensky for being insufficiently appreciative of US backing and their efforts to end the war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said afterwards that Mr Zelensky should apologise.

“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence,” Mr 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.”

Mr 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.”

Trump to address Congress

Earlier, Mr Zelensky’s prime minister, Mr 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.

“We will continue to work with the US through all available channels in a calm manner,” Mr 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.”

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 Mr Trump’s move. Mr Trump is expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in a major speech to Congress later on March 4.

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.

Mr 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.

Mr 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.

The US cut-off was “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 Mr Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment.

Pressure on Europe

The pause puts more pressure on European allies who have publicly embraced Mr Zelenskiy 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 March 4 unveiled proposals to raise spending on defence in the EU, which she said could mobilise up to €800 billion (S$1.14 trillion). The 27-nation bloc is holding an emergency summit on March 6.

France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayou was sharply critical of Mr Trump’s move. “Suspending aid during a war to a country under attack means abandoning the country under attack and accepting or hoping that the aggressor will win,” he said during a parliamentary debate.

Ukrainians, who have endured three years of war against a more powerful foe, were stunned by a move many described as a betrayal. Mr Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said it looked like Mr 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.” REUTERS