Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday brushed off a chance to apologize for his confrontation with President Trump at the White House, instead only saying his country’s freedom is “not for sale.”
Zelensky told reporters in the UK that his very public Oval Office showdown with Trump and Veep JD Vance on Friday “didn’t bring anything positive or additional to us as partners.”
Ukraine’s freedom and values are “not for sale,” Zelensky added after a busy day in England, where he met with European leaders at a summit in London before traveling to King Charles’ Sandringham Estate for a tete-a-tete with the monarch.
But Zelensky said he is still “ready” to sign a US-Ukraine minerals deal — and confirmed his aides are speaking to Trump’s team again about it.
“There is communication, not on my level,” he said, two days after his chaotic White House clash with Trump that ended with him leaving the White House early and cancelling a planned press conference.
He also repeated his claim that he is willing to resign as Ukraine’s president if it would allow his nation to finally join NATO.
“I am exchangeable for NATO. I have said that I am exchanging for NATO membership. Then it means I have fulfilled my mission,” Zelensky said.
Addressing Friday’s explosive arguments with Trump, Zelensky stressed the importance of “constructive dialogue with partners.”
He did not comment directly on the proposed one-month truce announced Sunday by French President Emmanuel Macron.
He only said in response to questions about the proposal, “I’m aware of everything.”
Any deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must give Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin “zero percent [chance] of coming back,” Zelensky told reporters Sunday, adding that “a ceasefire is not enough” to nix the war.
“If we are talking about a ceasefire, this will be a failure for everyone,” he said, adding that a peace deal with no such guarantee is a “trap.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking after Sunday’s emergency summit of European leaders ahead of the proposed deal, declared that Europe is “at a crossroads in history.
“A number” of other nations have indicated that they could deploy troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv,” Starmer said after the talks between 18 European leaders, although he did not name the other countries.
Starmer said he believes he will be able to get the US back on track and side with Europe’s planned peace deal on Ukraine, days after he held friendly talks with Trump in DC and following a further phone call with the president Saturday night.
“I would not be taking this step down this road if I didn’t think that it was something that would reach a positive outcome in terms of ensuring that we move together,” Starmer told reporters. “Ukraine, Europe, UK and US together towards a lasting peace.”
