Zelenskiy Says He’d Meet Again With Trump But Not at Any Cost

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(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he’s willing to meet again with Donald Trump if the US president invites him, but signaled that another White House encounter would have to be “serious” for him to make the trip. 

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Friday’s clash with Trump and Vice President JD Vance left attempts to get the US administration on Kyiv’s side in tatters. It also set off a scramble among Europeans to get the two leaders back to the table as they tried to demonstrated broad support for Ukraine at a security summit on London on Sunday.

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“We are worthy of an equal dialogue,” Zelenskiy said after attending the summit. If the US president invites him “for a constructive dialogue, to solve real problems, for serious issues and real, decisive actions and answers — I will arrive,” he said.  

Despite his defiant tone, Zelenskiy said that his country was ready to accept a natural resources deal with the US. The accord was left unsigned after the Oval Office bust-up that marked the most serious crisis between Ukraine and its biggest military supporter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began three years ago.

Holding such a conversation in public wasn’t a good thing for either the US or Ukraine, the Ukrainian president said, declining a reporter request to switch to English to avoid any misinterpretation. But in a clear attempt to turn the page on the dispute, he added: “I am convinced that the situation will pass and more important things are ahead.”

European leaders led by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spent the weekend in a diplomatic whirlwind as they tried to mend the break with the US. They also fast-tracked efforts to improve their own defense capabilities in the wake of Trump’s outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine — potentially over their heads. 

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Their hope is to persuade Trump to stay engaged with Europe and Ukraine before his peace talks with Putin advance further. 

The UK and France are seeking to build what Starmer called a “coalition of the willing” to participate in peacekeeping forces and help reassure Kyiv about the durability of any peace. Britain, France and “one or two” other countries will work with Ukraine on a “plan to stop the fighting,” Starmer said Sunday. 

Macron told Le Figaro newspaper after the gathering that the EU should provide €200 billion ($208 billion) to boost its military capabilities, a topic that will be discussed by leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels on March 6. 

But some disagreements have also started to emerge. Macron told Le Figaro that he and Starmer are working on a plan to reach a one-month truce in Ukraine that would include air and maritime operations as well as securing energy infrastructure.

A British official disputed that such a truce had been agreed to as part of the plan, adding that there hasn’t been any agreement on a timeline for a ceasefire. 

In his interview, Macron said that soldiers would only be deployed on the ground in a second phase — “there will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks” — and that the areas he outlined for a possible truce would be verifiable if there were breaches. He acknowledged it would be very difficult to do so along the eastern frontline. 

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Kremlin responds

The Kremlin, in its first official response, said on Monday that the “unprecedented” flare-up at the White House between Trump and Zelenskiy showed that Western unity is starting to fall apart.

Zelenskiy’s stance means it will be much harder to reach a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, said Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, according to Interfax. “The Kyiv regime and Zelenskiy do not want peace, they want the continuation of the war,” he said.

In this situation, Washington’s efforts and Moscow’s readiness are clearly not enough, as a very important element is missing, Peskov said. Speaking about Putin’s reaction, the Kremlin spokesman said: “He took into account what happened.”

The debacle in Washington hinted at the personal animus between Zelenskiy and Trump, and quickly escalated the US political assaults on Ukraine’s president. US Vice President JD Vance branded Zelenskiy disrespectful and suggested that his intransigence, rather than Moscow’s aggression, was the impediment to a US-brokered ceasefire with Russia.

Zelenskiy, though, has no plans to leave office, according to his aides. His political future is a matter for the Ukrainian people and no one else, he said, telling UK media on Sunday that “given what is going on, given the support, simply replacing me will not be simple.”

While Zelenskiy recognized Ukraine’s dependence on US support, expressed his thanks and respect for Trump, both main political parties and the US as a whole, he steered clear of apologizing fro Friday’s events. 

He defended his right to stand up for the dignity of his country and its people, and urged partners to show understanding for the suffering endured by Ukraine at the hands of Russia.

“I’m ready for any format of constructive relations with the US,” Zelenskiy said.

—With assistance from Henry Meyer.

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