Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized his countryโs desire for peace after US President Donald Trumpโs suggestions that he was not ready to make a deal with Russia.
โWe want peace. Thatโs why I came to the United States, and visited President Trump,โ he wrote in a Saturday post on X/Twitter. โThe deal on minerals is just a first step toward security guarantees and getting closer to peace. Our situation is tough, but we canโt just stop fighting and not having guarantees that Putin will not return tomorrow.โ
โIt is important for people in Ukraine to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world,โ he added.
I visited Ukraine House in Washington where I met with the Ukrainian community.It is crucial for us that Ukraineโs voice continues to be heard and that no one forgets about itโboth during the war and after. People in Ukraine must know that they are not alone, and that theirโฆ pic.twitter.com/Z36s2T42SS
โ Volodymyr Zelenskyy / ะะพะปะพะดะธะผะธั ะะตะปะตะฝััะบะธะน (@ZelenskyyUa) March 1, 2025
Zelensky painted as a beggar, journalists say
Ukrainian media pointed to the incident as evidence of how seriously Zelensky is taking Ukraineโs sovereignty.
โRegardless where history takes us, the world โ including Donald Trump โ was convinced that these issues truly matter for Ukraine,โ news outlet European Pravda wrote, as reported by the Guardian.
Some Ukrainian officials and analysts emphasized that without security pledges like those that were supposed to be in the critical minerals deal, any ceasefire with Moscow would be broken.
Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko wrote after the Washington incident that Trump would have found any reason to get offended and wouldโve started conflict anyway.
โYou simply canโt win with people who donโt actually want a standard, successful meeting,โ he wrote in a Friday post on X/Twitter.
โWe can talk endlessly about Zelenskyโs missteps and diplomatic setbacks, but the reality is โ under any circumstances โ he was always going to be called a beggar, a war gambler pushing the world toward world war three, someone who doesnโt want peace, isnโt thankful enough.โ
โStand up for whatโs rightโ
From back on the frontlines, Ukrainian politicians expressed their support for Zelenskyโs actions.
โPresident @ZelenskyyUa is right. Peace without guarantees is not possible,โ PM Denys Shmyhal said in a Friday post on X/Twitter.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, added: โNO ONE has the right to forget that in this war Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the victim of aggression.โ
โPresident Zelensky has the bravery and strength to stand up for what is right,โ Ukraineโs Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who was at the meeting, wrote on social media.
โAnother [Vladimir] Putin trap failed. Respect to the president for the courage to call things by their proper names, and to defend our peopleโs honour,โ the deputy prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said, as reported by the Guardian.
โTrump and Putin are dividing up the worldโ
After Fridayโs confrontation flared over differing visions of how to end Russiaโs three-year-old invasion, Ukrainians, many of them hardened by three years of war, rallied behind Zelensky in defiance but worried about the future of US backing for Kyivโs war effort.
Kyiv resident Liudmyla Stetsevych, 47, said she feared her country was being squeezed by larger powers.
โTrump and Putin are dividing up the world โ thatโs what I would say. I donโt know what will come of it,โ she said.
Another resident interviewed by Reuters said that she thought that Trump and Vance fundamentally did not understand the face of the war.
โThe Americans donโt know the real situation, whatโs going on here,โ said Ella Kazantseva, 54, as reported by Reuters.
โThey donโt understand. Everything is beautiful for them.โ
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