Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked President Donald Trump after they had a talk Wednesday at the NATO summit in the Netherlands — months after Vice President JD Vance called out Zelenskyy for not voicing more gratitude for U.S. support for Kyiv as it battles Moscow.
When Zelenskyy visited the White House in February he sparred openly with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office over engaging in diplomacy with Russia to end the conflict, prompting Vance to ask the Ukrainian leader if he’d ‘said thank you once this entire meeting.’
But on Wednesday Zelenskyy made sure to thank Trump and the U.S. in a post on X following their meeting in The Hague.
‘We covered all the truly important issues. I thank Mr. President, I thank the United States. We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace,’ Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Wednesday. ‘We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer. Details will follow.’
Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy’s infamous Oval Office meeting in February started after Zelenskyy challenged Vance’s statements that diplomacy was the correct avenue to end the conflict. Zelenskyy questioned the value of diplomacy, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken other agreements in the past.
‘What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?’ Zelenskyy said. ‘What do you mean?’
Vance said, ‘I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.’
‘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 said. ‘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 bringing it, to bring it into this country.’
Following the tense exchange, Trump announced a halt to peace negotiations and said that Zelenskyy could return to the White House when he was ‘ready’ for peace. Just after leaving the White House, Zelenskyy issued a post on X thanking the U.S., Trump, Congress and the American people for backing Ukraine.
Although Zelenskyy and Trump continued to exchange harsh barbs at one another following the Oval Office visit, they’ve subsequently spoken over the phone and met in person at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City during Pope Francis’ April funeral.
Meanwhile, Trump said Wednesday that his administration has not been able to finalize a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia, claiming that both leaders have been more challenging to work with than expected.
‘Vladimir Putin has been more difficult,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday. ‘Frankly, I had some problems with Zelenskyy. You may have read about him, and it’s been more difficult than other wars.’
Still, Trump said that his meeting with Zelenskyy went smoothly, and that he would be speaking to Putin as well.
‘He’s very nice, actually,’ Trump said of Zelenskyy. ‘A little rough at times. He couldn’t have been nicer. I think he’d like to see an end to this.’
