Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not apologize for the heated exchange with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, but told Fox News in an exclusive interview he is confident their relationship can be salvaged.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance erupted into a shouting match at the White House on Friday that was seen worldwide. The Ukrainian president traveled to the United States to meet with Trump after the commander-in-chief said a peace negotiation to end the war between Ukraine and Russia is in its final stages.
“Mr. President, do you think your relationship with Donald Trump — President Trump — after today can be salvaged?” Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier asked Zelenskyy.
“Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents. It’s the historical relations, strong relations between our people, and that’s why I always began… to thank your people from our people,” Zelenskyy said during an exclusive interview Friday on “Special Report.”
“Of course, thankful to the president, and, of course, to Congress, but first of all, to your people. Your people helped save our people… we wanted very much to have all these strong relations, and where it counted, we will have it.”
Zelenskyy said he was “not sure that we did something bad” when asked about the heated exchange but conceded the dustup was “bad for both sides.”
“I just want to be honest, and I just want our partners to understand the situation correctly, and I want to understand everything correctly. That’s about us not to lose our friendship,” he later said.
TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE
During Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House, Vance said a path to securing peace between Russia and Ukraine was through the United States engaging in diplomacy. Zelenskyy then tried to engage in a line of questioning about Russia’s moves since 2014 and attempts at diplomacy.
“Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told Zelenskyy. “Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelenskyy later said that under war, “everybody has problems, even you,” and that the United States would feel the war “in the future.”
“You don’t know that,” Trump responded as Zelenskyy said “God bless you” to him.
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump continued. “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
The president also accused Zelenskyy of “playing cards.”
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country — that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Vance interjected, asking Zelenskyy if he’d “said thank you once this entire meeting.”
The tense war of words continued for several minutes, and Trump accused Zelenskyy of “disrespecting” the United States during their meeting.
“The problem is I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States,” Trump said before the meeting wrapped up.
“And your people are very brave, but you’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out — and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out, but you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing, I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
Zelenskyy was asked about what set him off in the on-camera spat, which he conceded was “not good for both sides anyway.”
“When they, for example, say that Ukraine is almost destroyed, that our soldiers run away, that they are not heroes, that Ukraine lost millions of civilians, that his president is dictator. What is the reaction? It’s not about me. The reaction is that, where is our friendship between Ukraine and the United States? This is [the] feeling,” he said, repeating calls for being “correct” in characterizing the war.
“It’s not funny or fairytale. This is real life. That’s what I said, and when you said it a lot of times to my big friends, we’ve been here today in our dialogue, and then they again begin to repeat the same things… it’s not good way between partners, good partners and friends.”
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When Baier asked whether Zelenskyy thought the confrontation was pre-planned, the Ukrainian leader stressed he did not know. Instead, he said it “was just a really tough situation because we’ve been very open, very direct.”
The Trump administration was also working to ink an agreement with Ukraine that would allow the United States access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for support the United States has offered the nation since war broke out in 2022, as part of the peace deal.
The Oval Office exchange led to a canceled press conference, a minerals deal off the table and Trump asking the Ukrainian president to leave, a White House official previously confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton, Andrew Mark Miller and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not apologize for the heated exchange with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, but told Fox News in an exclusive interview he is confident their relationship can be salvaged.
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance erupted into a shouting match at the White House on Friday that was seen worldwide. The Ukrainian president traveled to the United States to meet with Trump after the commander-in-chief said a peace negotiation to end the war between Ukraine and Russia is in its final stages.
“Mr. President, do you think your relationship with Donald Trump — President Trump — after today can be salvaged?” Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier asked Zelenskyy.
“Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents. It’s the historical relations, strong relations between our people, and that’s why I always began… to thank your people from our people,” Zelenskyy said during an exclusive interview Friday on “Special Report.”
“Of course, thankful to the president, and, of course, to Congress, but first of all, to your people. Your people helped save our people… we wanted very much to have all these strong relations, and where it counted, we will have it.”
Zelenskyy said he was “not sure that we did something bad” when asked about the heated exchange but conceded the dustup was “bad for both sides.”
“I just want to be honest, and I just want our partners to understand the situation correctly, and I want to understand everything correctly. That’s about us not to lose our friendship,” he later said.
TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE
During Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House, Vance said a path to securing peace between Russia and Ukraine was through the United States engaging in diplomacy. Zelenskyy then tried to engage in a line of questioning about Russia’s moves since 2014 and attempts at diplomacy.
“Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance told Zelenskyy. “Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Zelenskyy later said that under war, “everybody has problems, even you,” and that the United States would feel the war “in the future.”
“You don’t know that,” Trump responded as Zelenskyy said “God bless you” to him.
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump continued. “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
The president also accused Zelenskyy of “playing cards.”
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country — that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Vance interjected, asking Zelenskyy if he’d “said thank you once this entire meeting.”
The tense war of words continued for several minutes, and Trump accused Zelenskyy of “disrespecting” the United States during their meeting.
“The problem is I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States,” Trump said before the meeting wrapped up.
“And your people are very brave, but you’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out — and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out, but you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing, I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
Zelenskyy was asked about what set him off in the on-camera spat, which he conceded was “not good for both sides anyway.”
“When they, for example, say that Ukraine is almost destroyed, that our soldiers run away, that they are not heroes, that Ukraine lost millions of civilians, that his president is dictator. What is the reaction? It’s not about me. The reaction is that, where is our friendship between Ukraine and the United States? This is [the] feeling,” he said, repeating calls for being “correct” in characterizing the war.
“It’s not funny or fairytale. This is real life. That’s what I said, and when you said it a lot of times to my big friends, we’ve been here today in our dialogue, and then they again begin to repeat the same things… it’s not good way between partners, good partners and friends.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
When Baier asked whether Zelenskyy thought the confrontation was pre-planned, the Ukrainian leader stressed he did not know. Instead, he said it “was just a really tough situation because we’ve been very open, very direct.”
The Trump administration was also working to ink an agreement with Ukraine that would allow the United States access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for support the United States has offered the nation since war broke out in 2022, as part of the peace deal.
The Oval Office exchange led to a canceled press conference, a minerals deal off the table and Trump asking the Ukrainian president to leave, a White House official previously confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton, Andrew Mark Miller and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
