Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky has returned to “anytime” at the White House. If he showed he was “really ready to be really engaged in peace,” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on Sunday.
The 51-year-old Waltz appeared on CNN's “Confederation State” to rebuke Zelensky, 47, for bringing down the history of Russian attacks during a now-high-pitched cries match that exploded between President Trump and Ukrainian leaders on Friday.
“I think what was surprising to all of us in the oval office was that it was not clear that Zelensky would go to negotiations at all, and that we could negotiate with Putin,” Waltz said.
“That was what we revealed. [negotiations] We couldn't continue for at least now,” Waltz said. “He is always welcome when President Zelensky is really ready to be involved in peace.”
Waltz was in the oval office on Friday when Zelensky, Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly rebutted the war in Ukraine.
About 40 minutes after the exchange, Vance threw Zelensky to end the war to engage in diplomacy.
“What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you talking?” Zelensky shot back after rehashing Kremlin Tyrant Vladimir Putin's previous breach of agreement with Ukraine.
Vance, 40, was later called Zelensky, and the Ukrainian leader was kicked out of the White House. Zelensky was expected to sign a mineral rights agreement during his visit to help pay the US for military aid to Ukraine, but in the end it was never a success.
After a flare-up of tension, Zelensky repeatedly refused the opportunity to issue an apology in a subsequent interview on Fox News.
Waltz declined to question Sunday about whether Zelensky should apologize to Trump to ease tensions with the White House.
Critics, including many Democrats, accused Trump and Zelensky of ambushing during an oval office spat.
“I want to deal with this being a kind of ambush directly,” Waltz said. “It's absolutely wrong. We negotiated a mineral trade a few weeks ago. It was difficult, but it was done, confirmed and ready to sign in the East Room.”
Zelensky seeks security assurances in signing the contract prior to more detailed negotiations with the Russians.
Waltz stressed that it was not clear to the Trump administration, “Zelensky was ready to negotiate in good faith towards the end of this war.”
“If you bring both sides to the table, you can't sue the other side and litigate the other side throughout the history of this conflict,” Waltz said. “With the body language, the shaking of my head, I came to the oval office… We found it incredibly rude.”
The 78-year-old Trump has sought to move towards positioning himself as a neutral intermediary between two fighting countries that are wary of both Ukraine and many European countries.
The United States was steadily present on the Ukrainian side, given that Russia invaded the country through much of the bloody war that celebrated its third anniversary last month.
The Trump administration and Russia discussed efforts to normalize relations between the US and the Kremlin in their push to end the conflict.
“This war needs to end and it is going to make concessions to the territory. It will take Russian concessions to the security guarantee. The Waltz said without further elaborating on the specific concessions he would like to see from Russia, which took over parts of Ukraine during the struggle.
