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In the aftermath of last week’s explosive Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and JD Vance, Trump slammed Zelenskyy as ungrateful, ultimately booting him out of the White House. This dramatic showdown left the much-anticipated mineral rights deal, expected to be signed on Friday, unsigned and in limbo.
Trump’s attacks on Zelenskyy have continued. On Monday, he even suggested that Ukrainians could oust Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past few days, and now he’s now desperately groveling to President Trump. In stark contrast to his previous posturing, Zelenskyy is now seeking to mend fences and align himself with Trump’s strong leadership.
Zelenskyy opened his statement by pledging Ukraine’s commitment to peace: “I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace. None of us wants an endless war.” This is a shift from the rhetoric we’ve heard in the past, where the Ukrainian president seemed more focused on demanding American aid than negotiating for peace.
But now, faced with the stark reality that the U.S. under Trump isn’t interested in endlessly footing the bill for Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, Zelenskyy is toeing a different line: “Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.”
Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.
