In the aftermath of the tense situation in the Oval Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a series of 13 posts on X, thanked America and said “American people helped save our people” and reinstated that Ukraine only wants strong relations with America.
He goes on to talk about the history of the friendship between both the nations and says, "I want the U.S. to stand more firmly on our side. This is not just a war between our two countries; Russia brought this war onto our territory and into our homes. They are wrong because they disrespected our territorial integrity."
Since US President Donald Trump had threatened that US could pull out of the negotiations and cut off support for Ukraine, Zelensky said, "It will be difficult without the U.S. support. But we can't lose our will, our freedom, or our people."
He announced that Ukraine needs "some clear structure of security guarantees from our allies in the U.S." and that "Peace can only come when we know we have security guarantees, when our army is strong, and our partners are with us."
He reiterated that Kyiv is still ready to sign the minerals deal and that will be the "first step toward security guarantees", but that will not be all.
Russia had repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements and could not be trusted. “Putin has broken his own signature 25 times,” Zelenskyy said in the Oval Office when the exchange got heated. However, Trump said that the Russian President Vladimir Putin had not broken agreements with him.
But Zelensky continued in his posts on X that, "A ceasefire won't work with Putin. He has broken ceasefires 25 times over the last ten years. A real peace is the only solution."
He ended the series of posts by saying that the two nations - America and Ukraine need to "be honest and direct with each other" in order to work on their goals together.
In front of the world's media, Trump and Vance berated Zelensky, accusing him of not being "thankful" and pressuring him to accept a peace deal with Russia. In response, Zelensky appeared to implore the two American leaders to reconsider their position by claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly breached ceasefire agreements, illegally occupying Ukrainian territory in the Crimean peninsula and violating human rights.
The tense encounter, which left the Ukrainian leader visibly uncomfortable, has since sparked a fierce backlash not just across Washington but also beyond.
