President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said he wanted to “make things right” with Donald Trump and to work under the US president’s “strong leadership” to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine.
In his first public comments since Trump halted US military aid to Ukraine, Zelensky called for a “truce” in the sea and sky as a first step to ending the three-year war and pledged to sign a key minerals deal with Washington.
A dramatic collapse in the Kyiv-Washington wartime alliance has played out publicly since an Oval Office clash between Zelensky and Trump last week, crescendoing with Ukraine’s top ally suspending crucial military aid.
“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” the Ukrainian leader added. “It is time to make things right.”
Trump’s stunning decision Monday to halt aid to Ukraine deepened fears in Kyiv and many European capitals that America was pivoting away from its allies — and towards Moscow.
Moscow hailed Trump’s decision, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling it a “solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process”.
“If the United States stops (military supplies), this would probably be the best contribution to peace,” Peskov said.
The European Union, which — along with Ukraine — is excluded from US-Russian negotiations towards a potential truce in Ukraine, has been scrambling to bolster support for Kyiv.
The urgency heightened last week, when Trump and Zelensky clashed in the White House, with Trump warning his Ukrainian counterpart “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented an EU plan to mobilise some 800 billion euros ($840 billion) for Europe’s defence.
The funding, she said, would “massively step up” support to Ukraine and provide it “immediate military equipment”.
The EU on Thursday is to hold an emergency summit aimed at cementing joint European support for Ukraine.
Ordinary Ukrainians speaking to AFP were shocked at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.
“It’s like a stab in the back,” a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kyiv who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.
Trump “wants Ukraine’s surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories,” one army volunteer, Sergiy Sternenko, said on Telegram.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X that “we are discussing options with our European partners” while “not overlooking the possibility of negotiations with our American counterparts”
