Photo: Photo.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to Fox News after tense talks with US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House. He said that Ukraine and the US should remain allies in the fight against Russian aggression and explained his position on a possible ceasefire.
“We are on the side of peace, but we cannot agree to surrender”
Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine seeks peace, but not at any cost. “I hope that President Trump is on our side. It is very important to stop Putin,” he said. At the same time, he added that Russia has repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements, and therefore Kyiv insists on security guarantees before any negotiations.
“I’m not sure I did anything wrong”
Fox News journalist Bret Baier asked Zelenskyy if he should apologise to Trump for the tensions in the White House. The Ukrainian president dodged a direct answer, saying that he “respects the US president and Americans” but believes he was “open and honest” in the negotiations.
Trump accuses Zelenskyy of ‘wanting to continue the war’
A few hours after the meeting, Donald Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy “didn’t want to talk about a ceasefire” and “just wants to keep fighting”. According to him, he was ready to strike a deal that would have included the use of American resources for the extraction of Ukrainian minerals in exchange for support, but the talks failed.
Ukraine does not agree to a deal on mineral resources
One of the key issues in the talks was a possible agreement on American access to Ukraine’s strategic minerals. The Trump administration offered such a deal in exchange for further assistance to Kyiv. However, Zelenskyy refused to sign the document without additional security guarantees for Ukraine. After that, according to CNN, Trump ended the meeting early, and the joint press conference was cancelled.
“Ukraine wants a just and lasting peace”
Asked whether Ukraine could survive without US support, Zelenskyy replied: “It would be difficult, that’s why I’m here.” He stressed that Kyiv is ready for diplomacy, but only if Washington provides security guarantees.
