Zelenskyy asked whether he owes Trump an apology (youtube.com)
Right at the start, he said he was thankful to Americans and to Trump, for helping them survive this, the invasion for 3 years.
About the televised spat, he said, ‘This is not good for both sides anyway, and I will be very open. But I can’t change our Ukrainian attitude toward Russia. This is very clear, that Americans are our best friends, and Europeans are our best friends, and Russia are our enemies. And this doesn't mean that we don't want peace, we just want to recognize the reality.'
‘We want just and lasting peace. It’s true, we want security guarantees.' He said Ukraine wants to go to the peace table but with a position of strength, that they are there with a strong military and there with their allies.
Everyone remembers the first days of the invasion, and how many people were killed, and nobody will forget it, Zelensky said, and if you just say OK, Putin is a great guy, now, there might later be another invasion or occupation.
Fox showed a clip of Senator Lindsy Graham, who has been a ‘big proponent of Zelensky and of Ukraine’, saying ‘I have never been more proud of the president. I was very proud of JD Vance, standing up for our country. We want to be helpful. What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again. ... He either needs to resign and send over somebody that we can do business with, or he needs to change.' Well, if he really was a proponent of Zelensky before, that's pretty light stuff on the scale to make him switch completely. I mean, Zelensky did appear to not speak completely diplomatically maybe, but it wasn't that bad either.
Democrats, however, made posts saying the White House ambushed Zelensky etc.
Zelensky asked, when all these criticism are said by big politicians in the US, that the feeling in Ukraine will be, ‘Where is our friendship between Ukraine and US?’
‘It’s not a good way, between partners and friends.'
He said that the spat happening publicly, was ‘not good.’ That things should happen behind closed doors.
Zelensky did speak frankly and honestly though, not politically, even when maybe he should have. He doesn't talk at all like a politician.
‘You're people have to save our people. First, human rights. This is very important.'
Treasury Secretary Bessent 'Shocked' at Trump, Zelenskiy Argument: Full Exclusive Interview (youtube.com)
He seems to say that the American people will or should feel harmed by something, I guess something Zelensky did. ‘President Zelensky blew that up today. I’m not sure what he was thinking.'
‘We were scheduled to have lunch afterwards, and that perhaps he could have brought up some of the points, but instead he chose to let things go into a downward spiral on live television.’ BBC reported that the scheduled lunch was a working lunch, and they were supposed to sign the agreement that had already been agreed to allow America mineral access to Ukraine. ‘Instead, Zelenzky was instructed to leave the White House.’
Bessent kept saying Zelensky did something insulting or harmful to the American people.
‘Economic security becomes military security’ and Ukraine's economy would benefit from the minerals deal, it would have been an accelerant to Ukrainian growth, he said. ‘Ukraine has a lot of potential. We hope to unlock it.’
We'll see what opinions of the public and of integrity voices is.