WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied wrongdoing Friday night in his first public remarks since a major Oval Office argument with President Trump that upended talks to end his country’s war with Russia.
“I’m not sure that we did something bad,” Zelensky told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier when asked if he owed Trump an apology — before saying moments later that “of course” the relationship between the men can be mended.”I respect the president and I respect the American people,” the 47-year-old leader said in the interview, without admitting fault for clashing with Trump and Vice President JD Vance earlier in the day.
But Zelensky proceeded to dig himself a deeper hole, telling the “Special Report” host that “I don’t know” if the argument was a pre-planned ambush by Trump and Vance, as some Democrats and pro-Ukraine commentators claimed.
A US official told The Post earlier Friday that the argument was entirely unexpected at the meeting, which was supposed to culminate in the signing of a framework deal that would grant the US a stake in Ukrainian rare earth elements.
Zelensky again insisted in the Fox News interview that the US provide new “security guarantees” to Ukraine — though Trump has repeatedly made clear he already believes the issue of security is addressed by the proposed US stake in rare earth mining.
“The United States will propose where and how the United States will give us security guarantees, what kind of and what part of, volume of security guarantees, and when we will be ready with this, we will come to diplomacy,” Zelensky said, without specifying what “security guarantees” from Washington he would like.
“I said that we have to sign this [mining] document, and we are ready for this, and this will be the first step to security guarantees. But it’s not enough,” Zelensky said.
“Just a cease-fire without security guarantees, it’s so sensitive for our people…. Everybody is afraid that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will come back tomorrow. We want just and lasting peace. It’s true. We want security guarantees.”
That minerals deal, which Trump has described as a prelude to a cessation of fighting in the three-year conflict, was left unsigned when the furious American president booted his Kyiv counterpart from the West Wing after the Oval Office shouting match.
Trump has flatly rejected Zelensky’s request for Ukraine to join the NATO alliance, but he has expressed greater comfort with French and British plans to deploy peacekeeping troops.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer broached the idea during their own visits to the White House on Monday and Thursday, respectively.
NATO’s collective defense clause — commonly known as Article 5 — would in theory serve as a significant deterrent to the Kremlin following a peace settlement.Zelensky also offered some conciliatory remarks to meet the US demand that he be more open to peace talks and a possible cease-fire.
“I think it was not good,” the Ukrainian president told Baier of the Oval Office spectacle.
“We want peace, that’s why I’m in the United States,” he also said.
“But I respect my soldiers and our people, our civilians, who work and support our warriors. I can’t say just stop,” he added.”We want security guarantees. We raise this topic about NATO the quickest way, but not all the countries are on this side. I said, ‘OK, if not NATO, nobody is pushing. If not NATO, let’s build NATO in Ukraine.’”
The US president wrote on social media shortly after the Oval Office meeting that Zelensky “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Zelensky outraged Trump and Vance by expressing, in their view, insufficient gratitude for massive US wartime aid to Kyiv — with an initially cordial meeting careening toward disaster after 45 minutes of largely warm opening remarks and Q&A with watching reporters.
The Ukrainian leader kicked off the acrimony by seeming to condescend Vance’s condemnation of the Biden administration and promotion of “diplomacy,” — with Zelensky, who had not been addressed by the VP, choosing to give him a history lecture and prodding, “What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are [sic] speaking about?”Vance responded that it was “disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media” — with Trump jumping in to defend his No. 2, telling Zelensky that he had “to be thankful” and was “gambling with World War III.”
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out,” Trump fumed. “I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
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