The Ukrainian president has refused to apologise for the fiery Oval Office spat with Donald Trump that saw him leave the White House early.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington DC as he was due to clinch a deal on minerals with the US on Friday.
But the final ten minutes of a meeting in front of the world’s media saw tensions rise and a shouting match unfold.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy had been due to have lunch with their delegations in the White House’s cabinet room after the meeting – but untouched salad plates and other items were seen being packed up as the meal was hastily called off and Mr Zelenskyy left the White House.
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Mr Trump later said that he had “determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations”.
In a later interview with Fox News, Mr Zelenskyy admitted his public spat with the president and Vice President JD Vance was “not good for both sides”.
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He was asked by the interviewer whether he owed an apology to Mr Trump and Mr Vance, bit sidestepped the question.
“I’m very thankful for all your support.. I was always very thankful to your people,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
When pressed, he said: “I’m not sure that we did something bad”.
The interview was supposed to be a victory lap on MAGA’s favourite TV channel, but the interview turned into disaster management for Mr Zelenskyy.
In an interview, he portrayed the meeting as a moment of frank and divergent views between the two but said he did not see the need to apologise.
He added he wished that Mr Trump was “more on our side” after the US president said he was in the middle of Ukraine and Russia.
“I want, really, him to be more on our side,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “It’s not just that the war began somewhere between our countries. The war began when Russia brought this war to our country. And they’re not right.”
Ukraine’s future ‘difficult’ without US support
Mr Zelenskyy also expressed a belief that the relationship could be salvaged.
He said, however, that his American counterpart needed to understand that Ukraine could not change its attitude on Russia, and would not enter peace talks without security guarantees.
“Everybody (is) afraid Putin will come back tomorrow,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “We want just and lasting peace.”
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He acknowledged that without US support, his country’s position would grow “difficult.”
After repeatedly declining opportunities to apologise, Mr Zelenskyy closed his Fox appearance by saying: “We are thankful and sorry for this. I mean this, we wanted very much to have strong relations.”
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‘A big shot’
Mr Trump said talks with Mr Zelenskyy “did not work out great from his standpoint” and mockingly called him a “big shot”.
The US leader also said the US was not looking for a “10-year war”.
“He wants to come back right now,” Trump said, adding “I can’t do that”.
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Speaking to Fox News, Mr Zelenskyy denied he had asked to come back to the White House.
In a statement posted on Telegram on Saturday morning, Mr Zelenskyy has said it is “very important” that Ukraine is “heard and not forgotten” following his meeting with Donald Trump.
“People in Ukraine need to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world.”
