Zelenskyy says White House Trump spat 'regrettable'

The Ukrainian president expressed regret Tuesday over his exchange with his US counterpart Donald Trump and urged for a return to cooperation after Washington paused its military support to Ukraine.

The terse exchange with Donald Trump at the White House was “regrettable,” and “it is time to make things right”, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, just hours after Washington announced a pause on military support to Ukraine.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

“It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”

In an unprecedented argument live on TV last Friday, the US president told his Ukrainian counterpart during his White House visit he should “be thankful,” accusing Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” and “gambling with World War III”.

“Your country is in big trouble,” The US president continued, adding, “You are not winning this.”

Reiterating that Ukraine could only defend itself for three years now because of the US military support, Trump said, “If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would be have been over in two weeks.”

“In three days, (as) I have heard from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Zelenskyy retorted.

After the terse exchange, the US president said the deal with Ukraine — which brought Zelenskyy to the White House — was off.

Rare earth minerals deal on again

Yet on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv is ready to sign a deal on its rare-earth minerals that the Trump administration sought.

“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” Zelenskyy said. “

We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”

Days after an explosive meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump ordered the assistance halted in a bid to pressure Kyiv to engage in peace talks with Russia.

Officials in Kyiv said they were grateful for the vital help of the US in Russia’s all-out war, now in its fourth year, and wanted to keep working with Washington.

Yet, Ukraine and its allies are concerned Trump is pushing for a quick ceasefire that will favour Russia, which Kyiv says cannot be trusted to honor truces.

A White House official said the US was “pausing and reviewing” its support to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

The pause in US support isn’t expected to have an immediate impact on the battlefield. Ukrainian forces have slowed Russian advances along the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, especially in the fiercely contested Donetsk region some 700 kilometers east of Kyiv.

The Russian onslaught has been costly in troops and armor but hasn’t brought a strategically significant breakthrough for the Kremlin.

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