WASHINGTON (AFP) – Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that his relations with the United States can still be repaired, after 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 president told journalists later 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.”
