The Ukrainian president has been his first official duties since the Trump administration suspended military aid on March 3.
Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky said last week that the clash between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House was “unfortunate” and that he had pledged to sign a mineral contract and hold peace negotiations.
The Ukrainian leader wrote in a statement released on social media platform X: We are grateful for this. ”
During the meeting with Trump and Vance, both the president and the vice president advised Zelensky about his comments and his attitude towards his efforts to end the war. Trump later said he would continue to deal with Zelensky after Ukrainian leaders expressed their desire to end the war with Russia.
“Our meeting in Washington on Friday at the White House wasn’t exactly what it should have been. It’s a shame that it happened in this way. It’s time to get things right. Zelenskyy hopes that future cooperation and communication will be constructive,” he wrote.
Zelenskyy’s comments come hours after Trump ordered a moratorium on US aid to Ukraine.
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Ukraine relies on us and European military aid, and over three years of war, withdrew from bigger and better enemies, killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides, flattening Ukrainian cities.
Trump said he wanted to end the war in Ukraine and believes that deaths on both sides are much higher than those officially confirmed. Before the election, Trump said he would end the war in 24 hours, but his administration has shown that it could take months.
After a pause in US aid, Europeans showed that they were competing to boost their military spending, and on March 4th, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed a proposal to boost spending on the European Union on defense. She said the move could mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($840 billion). The EU is holding an emergency summit on March 6th.
Since the Russian invasion three years ago, Congress has approved a total support of $175 billion to Ukraine, according to the Responsible Federal Budget Committee.
Trump proposed on March 3 that a contract to disclose Ukrainian minerals for US investment could still be agreed. The deal was intended to be signed in Washington on February 28th before Zelensky left the oval office early after the collapse of the consultations.
“Ukraine is always ready to sign in a convenient format regarding minerals and security agreements,” Zelenskyy said. “We see this agreement as a step towards improving security and solid security assurances, and we really hope that it works effectively.”
In an interview with Fox News, Vance called on Zelenskyy to accept the deal.
“If you want a real security guarantee, and you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t break into Ukraine again, the best security guarantee is to give Americans an economic attitude in Ukraine’s future,” Vance said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
