Ukrainian President Zelensky, days after a spat with US President Donald Trump in the White House, posted a video message on Monday expressing his gratitude to the US and asserting that the key to put an end to the war are security guarantees.
After Trump reprimanded Zelensky in front of the media for not being thankful enough to the US for its support throughout the war, the Ukrainian President posted a video message on X, formerly Twitter, addressing the people of his country and saying that they “understand the importance of the United States” and are grateful for all the support they have received from the US.
“There has not been a day when we haven’t felt gratitude. It’s gratitude for the preservation of our independence – our resilience in Ukraine is based on what our partners are doing for us – and for their own security,” Zelensky said in the video.
However, he maintained his position that there is a need for security guarantees to end the war. “What we need is peace, not endless war. And that’s why we say security guarantees are the key to this,” he said.
Zelensky said that the country sees “clear support” from Europe and “even more unity, even more willingness to cooperate” to end the war and bring peace to Ukraine.
He added that all of Ukraine’s allies, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Turkey and more agree that “for peace to be real, we need real security guarantees”, a position shared by the entire Europe continent.
Zelensky’s video message, in which he also thanks the people of his country and says that he’s proud of them, comes after his recent visit to London to attend a summit on Ukraine with European leaders. He also hinted after the summit that he believed he could salvage the Ukraine’s relationship with the US after the explosive meeting with Trump last week.
While addressing the reporters after the summit, Zelensky said, “As regards salvaging the relationship, I think our relationship will continue.”
“I do not think it’s right when such discussions are totally open. The format of what happened, I don’t think it brought something positive or additional to us as partners,” a Reuters report quoted Zelensky as saying.