Hours after the stormy exchange in the White House, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a defiant note, saying he had done nothing wrong that he needed to apologise for and that further steps in the peace negotiations will depend on the US position on his demand on a “just and lasting peace” that will prevent Russia from launching another attack against his country.
Appearing on a widely anticipated prime-time interview with Brett Baier of Fox News, the Ukrainian President did concede the fiery exchange “was not good” but expressed no regrets for his role in it. In fact, he seemed to have defended it, saying it was an “open” and “honest” conversation between friends.
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The Oval Office pool spray — a White House tradition for the President and the visiting dignitary to pose for pictures and take questions from a representative pool of reporters — devolved into a shouting match between the President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance on one side and President Zelensky.
The American leaders accused Zelensky of disrespecting the White House and the US for his remarks and the Ukrainian President accused them of not feeling the frustration of being at the receiving end of an invasion.
The two sides did not sign an agreement that was the purpose of the visit to give the US rights to Ukraine’s reserves of rare earth minerals and other natural resources in return partly for the contributions made towards Kyiv’s war efforts.
“I think that we have to be very open and very honest and I’m not sure that we did something bad,” Zelensky replied to a question if he owned President Trump an apology, which stemmed from the Fox News host’s presumption of guilt on part of the Ukrainian President, as alleged by President Trump and Vice-President Vance, both of whom have accused the visiting leader of being disrespectful.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Lindsey Graham, a steadfast support of Ukraine’s fightback against Russia, slammed Zelensky, accusing him of showing disrespect instead of gratitude for the US support.
Pressed by the interviewer on whether the public spat in the Oval Office served his cause well, Zelensky said, “This is, is not good for both sides.”
But, he added, “I can’t, you know, change our Ukrainian attitude to Russia.”
