
According to US special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has purportedly offered US President Donald Trump an apology through a letter after their verbal confrontation in the Oval Office. Witkoff alleges that the letter sought to ‘repair the relationship’ by recognizing the rough indentation created by Zelenskyy’s diplomatic meeting, as he spoke with Fox News on Monday. “Zelenskyy sent a letter to the President. He apologised for the whole incident that happened in the Oval Office. I think it was an important step, and there’s been a lot of discussion between our teams, the Ukrainians, and the Europeans who are relevant to this discussion,” he said. While Trump did not state the letter contained Zelenskyy's apology, he confirmed to congress during his annual address that Zelenskyy had reached out to him this past week. Trump remarked how the letter was intended to reduce diplomatic tension, particularly after the US decided to pull military aid from Ukraine.
Tensions ran high during Trump's and Zelenskyy's Oval Office meeting Trump meeting, especially when Trump warned Zelenskyy that he was “gambling with World War Three.” On top of that, he forecasted that a ceasefire with Russia was “fairly close” and claimed that permitting the US to access Ukraine's natural resources would be “very fair.” Vice President JD Vance also attended the meeting while Zelenskyy was asking for security guarantees from the US.
Zelenskyy expressed his regret over the dispute and stated that he is still willing to cooperate with the US, including signing a minerals deal. While this was taking place with US officials, a meeting is taking place Tuesday in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian officials to further discuss the relaunching of peace talks to bring the war with Russia to an end.
In anticipation of the meeting, Zelenskyy met the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to explain that Ukraine continues to work on attaining peace.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and the only reason it continues is because of Russia,” wrote Zelenskyy on social media. He claimed that Ukraine will take a “fully constructive” attitude towards the negotiations and claims to expect “practical outcomes.”
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