‘Time to make things right’: Zelensky regrets Oval Office clash with Trump

London: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed regret over his angry exchange with Donald Trump in the Oval Office and vowed to return to the negotiating table to sign a minerals deal and secure peace.

After the US president announced a sudden freeze on military aid, Zelensky said it was “regrettable” what happened in their White House meeting last Friday and told Trump that “it is time to make things right”.

Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during their explosive meeting in the Oval Office.Credit: Bloomberg

“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian leader said in a post on X, praising Trump’s “strong leadership”.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” he wrote. “It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right.”

Zelensky also said Ukraine was ready to sign the mineral rights agreement with the US and that he was ready to work “under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”

Reuters reported Trump had told advisers that he wanted to announce the agreement with Ukraine in his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday (AEDT), which would allow the US to invest in their country’s rare earth mineral deposits. The White House has yet to comment on the report and Reuters’ sources cautioned that the deal has not yet been signed and that the situation could still change.

People hold a demonstration supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outside the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.Credit: AP

Europe has scrambled to draw up its own plans for peace in Ukraine and has pleaded with Trump to provide security guarantees, which he has so far declined.

On Tuesday, the European Commission unveiled plans for an €800 billion ($1.35 trillion) boost to EU defence spending to win over the US with its rearmament.

Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, said: “This is Europe’s moment, and we must live up to it.”

Analysts said Ukraine had enough military supplies to last until the end of the northern hemisphere summer if the US permanently halted all military aid. Allied leaders and officials – already mobilising to provide more aid and political backing for Ukraine in response to the Trump administration’s moves – expressed concern over the White House decision.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was reported blindsided by Trump’s announcement of a halt to military aid despite speaking to the president earlier this week.

Without the US, it is unclear if Europe is willing or able to offer meaningful security guarantees, which Zelensky has said must be part of any ceasefire with Russia.

An emergency meeting in the Ukrainian parliament was convened urgently to assess the impact of the latest pressure from the Trump administration, while soldiers in the trenches woke up to the news that an already gruelling war could become even more brutal.

Volodymyr Zelensky during a summit at Lancaster House in London on Sunday.Credit: Bloomberg

Zelensky has baulked at the idea of a quick ceasefire, haunted – like many Ukrainians – by the period after 2014 when Moscow frequently flouted the terms of an armistice and political settlement.

On Monday, Trump dismissed his concerns that Russia had past form in breaching such agreements and suggested a peace accord could be struck with a different Ukrainian leader – a longtime Russian demand.

“It should not be that hard a deal to make,” Trump said. “It could be made very fast. If somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long.”

Zelensky has repeatedly called for any ceasefire to be enforceable, including through commitments from Ukraine’s allies to come to its defence if it is attacked again.

In the Oval Office last Friday, Trump dismissed Zelensky’s concern as unimportant, confirming Ukrainians’ fears that he wants a peace accord at any cost.

“I don’t want to talk about security yet because I want to get the deal done,” Trump said. “Security is so easy that’s about 2 per cent of the problem. I’m not worried about security. I’m worried about getting the deal done.”

Zelensky also outlined a series of steps for how he believed a peace process should unfold.

“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,” Zelensky wrote in his X post.

“Then we want to move very fast through all [the] next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”

A Kremlin spokesman said the US pause in military aid could push Kyiv to join a peace process.

“This would probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace,” said Dmitry Peskov, according to RIA Novosti. Russia expected the US to lift sanctions as Trump moved to normalise relations with Moscow, Peskov added.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.