Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says 'it's time to make things right' with US, folding to secure support

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he regrets last week’s Oval Office clash with US President Donald Trump and wants to “make things right” in a fulsome statement issued a day after Mr Trump halted military aid to his country’s forces.

In his statement, Mr Zelensky said he supported peace negotiations and was ready to sign a deal giving the United States access to Ukrainian minerals, which he had left on the table when he abandoned a visit to Washington DC after an Oval Office argument with Trump on Friday.

“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” he wrote on X

“My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” Mr Zelensky said in his statement on X.

“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence,” Mr Zelensky wrote.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right.”

Mr Zelensky outlined a path towards a peace agreement, which he said could begin with a release of prisoners and a halt to air and sea attacks, if Russia did the same.

“Then we want to move very fast through all (the) next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”

“I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace.

“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under.”

Earlier, Mr Zelensky’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine’s forces could hold their own on the battlefield against Russian troops but that Ukraine would do everything possible so that cooperation with the United States would continue.

Mr Trump has upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia, culminating in the tense confrontation at the White House on Friday when Mr Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, upbraided Mr Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for US backing.

“We will continue to work with the US through all available channels in a calm manner,” Mr Shmyhal said.

“We only have one plan - to win and to survive. Either we win, or the Plan B will be written by someone else.”

The Kremlin, for its part, said cutting off military aid to Ukraine was the best possible step towards peace although it was still waiting to confirm Mr Trump’s move.

Mr Trump is expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in a major speech to Congress on Tuesday.

Mr Shmyhal said Ukraine was doing more to ramp up its own military production, especially of drones.

But air defences could be a particular problem if US aid ends, especially the Patriot batteries that are Ukraine’s only defence against Russian ballistic missiles aimed at its cities.

Ukrainian officials have said as much as 40 per cent of Ukrainian military supplies came from the United States, with a third from European countries and the rest produced at home.

Mr Shmyhal said the aim was to raise domestic production to 50 per cent this year.

The US cut-off is “pretty significant but not nearly as impactful as it would have been earlier in the war because Ukraine is far less dependent on direct US military assistance now,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment.