President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he appreciated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s effort to reach out to him a day after the U.S. froze its aid to Kyiv, while reiterating his desire to bring the war to a close.
In his speech before a joint session of Congress, Trump read what he said was a passage from an “important letter” he received from Zelenskyy, in which the wartime leader said he was ready to sign the rare earth minerals deal the Trump administration has been pushing.
“I appreciate that he sent this letter, just got it a little while ago,” Trump said.
The two men were originally meant to sign that agreement Friday during Zelenskyy’s White House visit, but the signing was canceled following their Oval Office clash.
The contents of the letter Trump shared during his speech appear to be consistent with a public statement Zelenskyy issued on his account on X, formerly Twitter, in which he expressed regret for what unfolded in the White House Friday.
“It is time to make things right,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”
Trump added that his team is in contact with its Russian counterparts.
“We’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he asked.
Trump then seemed to get ahead of criticism about being too deferential to Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling the audience that “if you want to end wars, you have to talk to both sides.”
Despite Trump’s claims, it’s unclear whether Russia is indeed prepared to pull its troops out of Ukraine; even if it is, its demands for doing so remain unknown.
Meanwhile, Trump has adopted a tough stance toward Ukraine, announcing a freeze on U.S. aid for the war-torn country just days after accusing Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War III.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday morning confirmed that the pause also extends to intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, but seemed to suggest Zelenskyy’s recent statement praising Trump would help get that lifted.
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“I think on the military front and the intelligence front, the pause that allowed that to happen, I think will go away, and I think we’ll work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine as we have, to push back on the aggression that’s there,” Ratcliffe told Fox Business.
