The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during an interview with the political anchor of Fox News Bret Bret Bret on Special Report with Bret Baier at Fox News Studios on February 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused on Friday evening to apologize for his superb oval office confrontation with President Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance a few hours earlier.
“No,” said Zelensky, when Bret Bret Bret from Fox News asked if he had to apologize to Trump after Trump accused him of disrespect.
But Zelenskyy said: “This type of spit is not good for both sides.”
The Ukrainian leader in his television interview also said that “it will be difficult for us” to defend his country against the invasive Russian military forces if Trump ceases to help Ukraine.
“This is why we are here,” said Zelenskyy. “It will be difficult without your support.”
“Your people help save our people,” he said later.
He has expressed his gratitude to Trump and the American people for help in the United States provided so far.
“I am very grateful to the Americans for all your support. You have done a lot. I am grateful to President Trump and the Congress,” said Zelenskyy.
“You have helped us a lot. From the start, for three years of large -scale invasion, you helped us survive.”
The confrontation earlier Thursday at the White House began when Zelenskyy challenged the argument of Vance that Ukraine could obtain peace with Russia by diplomacy, the Ukrainian President noting how Russian chief Vladimir Putin has repeatedly violated the previous agreements.
“He killed our people and did not exchange prisoners,” said Zelenskyy about Putin. “What kind of diplomacy, JD, do you speak? What do you mean?”
Vance castigated Zelenskyy so as not to thank Trump on Friday in public, and Trump said that Zelenskyy was risking the death of millions of people and starting the “Second World War” if he had not concluded a peace agreement.
Zelensky left the White House without signing an agreement planned to give the United States access to the minerals of rare land in Ukraine. Zelenskyy wants this agreement to be a Trump precursor guaranteeing support for Ukraine if Russia violates a potential peace agreement.
In his interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy said he regretted his dispute with Trump and that Vance had been televised and in front of journalists.
“We are grateful and sorry for that. I mean that, we wanted to have solid relationships,” he told Baier.
Pressed if he had to apologize to Trump, Zelenskyy said: “I think we have to be very open and very honest.”
“And I’m not sure we’ve done something wrong,” said Zelenskyy.
When he was asked if he thought that his relationship with Trump could be recovered, the Ukrainian chief said: “Yes, of course.”
Shortly before the interview, Trump said Zelenskyy had “overestimated his hand”.
“He is looking for something I am not looking for,” Trump told journalists outside the White House.
“He tries to continue and fight, to fight, to fight. We are trying to end death.”
Trump’s message has attracted net warming from European leaders and NATO, who reiterated their support for Ukraine in social media statements.
Many of them also reported that Europe is aware of the more important role that it will probably have to play to ensure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself.
“We are going to intensify our support for Ukraine so that they can continue to retaliate the aggressor,” said Kaja Kallas, a representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and the security policy in an article on the social media site X.
“Today, it has become clear that the free world needs a new leader. It is up to us, Europeans, to take up this challenge,” Kallas wrote.
