Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly ended up apologizing to US President Donald Trump for the fiery Oval Office meeting that resulted in his departure without a deal.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, claimed that Zelensky said sorry and that the gesture marked ‘progress’ in ongoing Russia-Ukraine war peace talks the US has been involved in.
‘Zelensky sent a letter to the president. He apologized for that whole incident that happened in the Oval Office,’ Witkoff told Fox News on Monday.
‘I think that it was an important step, and there’s been a lot of discussion between our teams and the Ukrainians and the Europeans who are relevant to this discussion as well.’
Trump referenced the letter during his address to a joint session of Congress last Tuesday.
‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians,’ Trump read from Zelensky’s letter.
‘We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.’
The US president made no mention of Zelensky’s apology at the time.
Zelensky’s top advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, told Le Point last week that the Ukrainian president would not apologize.
‘He was absolutely right in form and substance when he tried to convey to our American partners the key idea: nothing will be done without coercion of Russia,’ Podolyak told the French news magazine.
‘Our president tirelessly explains to our partners what this war is and who provoked it… So we will not apologize for a supposed mistake that did not take place.’
The February 28 meeting descended into a shouting match between the presidents and Zelensky was asked to leave the White House without signing a deal that would involve Ukraine providing rare minerals to the US for security guarantees.
Shortly after the meeting, Zelensky called it ‘regrettable’ and thanked Trump and the US in an X (Twitter) post, but did not issue a formal apology.
Witkoff has since highlighted the importance of talking about security protocols for Ukraine, among other issues, as conversations around a deal continue.
‘These are not complicated things, they just… need to be put on the table and everybody needs to be transparent about what their expectations are,’ Witkoff said.
‘Then we can begin to have a discussion about how we compromise.’
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