Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky apologized to U.S. President Donald Trump for the dispute that occurred in the Oval Office at the end of February. This was reported by the U.S. President's Special Representative for the Middle East, Stif Witkoff.
According to Witkoff, who spoke on Fox News, Zelensky officially apologized for the incident at the White House and sent a letter to Trump.
“Zelensky sent a letter to the president. He apologized for the incident that took place in the Oval Office. I think this was an important step, and there were many discussions between our teams, as well as among the Ukrainians and Europeans involved in this event,” Witkoff said.
However, there is still no clarity on exactly how Zelensky "apologized" and what kind of letter he sent to Trump.
Zelensky expressed regret about the meeting at the White House
On March 4, Zelensky wrote about his impressions after the meeting on social media, acknowledging that the meeting at the White House did not go as expected.
“I regret that it happened this way. It is time to fix everything. We want future cooperation and communication to be constructive,” the Ukrainian leader stated in his post.
Trump, in his address to Congress, announced that he had received an important letter from Zelensky and emphasized that he was "grateful for the message."
At the same time, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, stated that no separate letter was written by Zelensky to Trump. According to her, Trump quoted the Ukrainian president's post from March 4 in his address to Congress.
The dispute in the Oval Office and its consequences
On February 28, a dispute occurred between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Vice President Jay Di Vens during an event held in the Oval Office.
After that, the Ukrainian leader left the meeting early, and a deal on rare metals between the two countries was not signed.
Later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that Zelensky should apologize for the dispute at the White House. However, the Ukrainian president stated that he had no intention of complying with this demand.
It remains unclear how this situation between Zelensky and Trump will affect the cooperation between the two countries. However, analysts are noting that the Ukrainian president's position could influence the military and economic aid coming from the U.S.
