Zelenskyy Defends Oval Office Remarks, Stresses Need for Security Guarantees

WASHINGTON—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 defended his comments made during a tense White House meeting.

In an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Zelenskyy reiterated his stance on a cease-fire agreement, suggesting that he was open to peace, but insisted on securing lasting peace through security guarantees from the United States.

“We are ready for peace, but we have to be in a strong position,” he said.

His comments came after a heated argument that erupted during his visit to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump. During the meeting, both Trump and Vice President JD Vance expressed concerns over Zelenskyy’s public insistence on security guarantees as part of a proposed minerals deal.

Trump told reporters that Zelenskyy wanted to return to sign the deal and noted that the Ukrainian president was not yet ready for a peace deal.

Related Stories

Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the invitation, stating that the minerals deal was the first step to security guarantees. He told Fox News it was meant to bring both sides closer to peace.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said.

Zelenskyy also stated that without U.S. support, it would be extremely difficult for Ukraine to continue its fight against Russia. He acknowledged that the United States and other countries would not offer NATO membership to Ukraine.

“If not NATO, let’s build NATO in Ukraine. That’s my position,” he said.

“When we say no NATO, what security guarantees can we have? I’m not pushing. We’re not pressuring. We’re just asking.”

Zelenskyy added that Europeans have already committed to providing security to Ukraine with boots on the ground. He also noted that the United States might consider offering support, potentially as a backstop “just to guarantee that they are with Europeans.”

The meeting escalated after Zelenskyy was accused of being disrespectful and failing to show gratitude for Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

During the Oval Office meeting, Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin had broken cease-fires 25 times.

In response to the Ukrainian leader’s repeated request for security guarantees, Vance said to Zelenskyy: “It’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”

After the bilateral meeting, both sides were expected to reconvene for lunch, but the Ukrainian representatives were asked to leave, a White House official told The Epoch Times. And the lunch, which was meant for Zelenskyy and his team was given to the White House staff.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz delivered the message to Zelenskyy that Trump and Vance no longer wished to continue the meeting, the official said.

Zelenskyy Says No Reason to Apologize

During the Fox interview, Zelenskyy said he had no reason to apologize to Trump after their heated exchange.

“No, I respect the president and I respect American people,” Zelenskyy said in response to a question on whether he should apologize.

“I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad,” he added.

At the start of the interview, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Trump and Congress for their bipartisan support, saying he has always been very thankful.

“I think that we have to be on the same side, and I hope that the president is on our side together with us, and that is very important to stop Putin,” Zelenskyy said while defending his remarks at the Oval Office.

When Baier asked if he regretted the conversation in front of the media, Zelenskyy said, “Yes, I think it was not good. I think it was not good because we had a lot of different dialogs.”

“Do you agree that President Trump is too close to Vladimir Putin in your mind?” Baier asked.

Zelenskyy said Trump had told him that he sought to be “in the middle” of the two warring countries to ensure all parties participate in negotiations.

“I want really him to be more at our side,” 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.”

During the Oval Office meeting, Trump rejected criticism of being too aligned with Putin.

“You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir! How are we doing on the deal?’ It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said. “I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world.”

During the Fox interview, Zelenskyy also addressed worries about how Ukraine has handled the weapons and money it has received from the United States.

Baier asked the Ukrainian leader if there would “be a very rigorous accounting of where the money has gone,” raising concerns about possible corruption and equipment sales in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told Baier that the concerns were unwarranted.

“It came through the border. It’s checked and it’s fixed by everybody,” he said of weapons shipments to Ukraine. He then offered a similar reassurance regarding direct financial support from the United States to Ukraine.

“It’s very open. It’s digitalized,” he said. “If somebody wants to check it again, we are very, very open with this.”

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.