Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that his relations with the United States can still be repaired, after US President Donald Trump shouted at him in an angry White House meltdown accusing the Ukrainian leader of refusing to make peace with Russia.
“Of course,” Zelensky said when asked in a Fox News interview if the relationship with Trump could be salvaged.
US-Ukrainian ties are about “more than two presidents,” he said, adding that Ukraine badly needs Washington’s help in the fight against Russia’s far bigger and better-armed military.
“It will be difficult without your support,” Zelensky said on Fox — Trump’s favorite news channel.
Zelensky’s olive branch came hours after the extraordinary Oval Office scene where the years-long US policy of massive support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion collapsed in a shouting match.
The row saw European leaders scramble to voice support for Ukraine after Zelensky was made to leave the White House early and without signing a minerals-sharing deal seen as vital to an eventual US-brokered truce.
During the clash, played out in front of US and international media, Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being “thankful” and refusing to accept their proposed truce terms.
“You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
Zelensky departed shortly after, with Trump posting on social media that “he can come back when he is ready for peace”.
US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials.
The US president told journalists later on Friday that Zelensky was “overplaying his hand” and should agree to end fighting “immediately.”
Zelensky, however, refused to apologise, telling Fox News, “I’m not sure that we did something bad.” He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later on CNN called for Zelensky to “apologise for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did.”
‘Not alone’
US allies in Europe — already worried that Trump will force Ukraine to effectively hand victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin — rushed to back Zelensky.
“You are not alone,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fresh off his own visit to the White House, said he had spoken to both Trump and Zelensky by phone following the clash and vowed “unwavering support” for Kyiv.
Far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for a summit “without delay” between the United States, Europe and their allies on Ukraine.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said she spoke with her Ukrainian counterpart and reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to “providing the necessary assistance to ensure Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, and resilience”.
Trump and Vance are “doing Putin’s dirty work”, top US Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted.
But Russia was delighted.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called Zelensky an “insolent pig” who had received “a proper slap down in the Oval Office.”
Trump’s Republican Party echoed the Russians in blaming Zelensky.
Ukraine appeared united behind Zelensky, with its army chief vowing to stand with him while the foreign minister praised his “bravery.”
Compromise with ‘killer’?
The meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make “compromises” in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of the country.
Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory.”
After he pointed out that previous Western-backed peace efforts had failed to deter Russian aggression, Vance interrupted and called him “disrespectful.”
The session then boiled over into Trump and Vance loudly berating the Ukrainian leader. He sat in evident discomfort as his hosts talked over him.
Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion.
He said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin – more than has been publicly reported.
Trump called Zelensky a “dictator” last week and has said he trusts Putin to “keep his word” over a ceasefire.
Trump told Zelensky that as a mediator he could not criticise one of the main sides.
However, speaking to Fox News, Zelensky said he wished Trump was “really more on our side.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued.
Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.
