News Feed

Zelensky thanks US after tense meeting with Trump

2 min read
Zelensky thanks US after tense meeting with Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech on Aug. 4, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States for it's ongoing support of Ukraine in a social media post following a tense meeting at the White House on Feb. 28.

"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," Zelensky wrote on X.

"Thank you POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."

Zelensky's thanks followed a heated argument with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance in the White House, during which the American leaders berated him for being insufficiently grateful for U.S. aid.

Zelensky left the meeting without holding the planned press conference with Trump or signing the much-anticipated critical minerals deal with the U.S.

Trump reportedly ordered Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House after the Oval Office argument.

Following the meeting, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that Zelensky had "disrespected" the U.S. and could return to the White House "when he is ready for peace."

Avatar
Abbey Fenbert

Senior News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

Read more
News Feed

"This collaboration serves as a testament to our country's commitment to the defense of democratic values, to freedom, and to a just and lasting peace," Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said during a visit to Kyiv.

At a press conference in Kyiv on April 22, Ukraine’s Deposit Guarantee Fund and Polish fintech Zen.com, registered in Lithuania, said the company had acquired First Investment Bank, known as PINbank, which was transferred to the state in 2023 and later declared insolvent.

Vladimir Plahotniuc was Moldova's wealthiest businessman and de facto controlled the country's government in the 2010s in what critics described as a "captured state." His fall from grace is seen by his opponents as part of Moldova's alignment with European liberal and democratic values.

Video

The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Denisova sits down with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's former foreign minister, to discuss U.S.-led peace talks, Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine, Europe’s role in ending the war, and why he believes neither Washington nor Moscow can impose a settlement on Kyiv.

Show More