Zelensky did not apologize to Trump and asked the president to be 'more on our side'

Hours after the viral exchange between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine sat down with Bret Baier to make his disclaimer. Zelensky, who clashed sharply with the Trump and Vance over the future of the war with Russia, regretted the situation in the Oval Office but did not apologize to Trump.

Although Trump and Zelensky's meeting began amicably and with complicit laughter, it ended without a handshake. The Ukrainian delegation left the White House without sharing the protocol lunch. Even the press conference that was scheduled with both leaders present was canceled.

Hours later, the Ukrainian president recorded an interview with Fox News in which he also asked the Republican to be "more on our side."

"I'm not sure that we did something bad"

Almost as if recalling the claims made to him by JD Vance hours earlier, Zelensky began the interview by thanking the United States for all the help provided so far.

Thereupon, when asked by Beir if he thinks he needs to apologize to Trump for what happened, Zelensky replied as follows, "I'm not sure that we did something bad I think maybe sometimes sometimes some things we have to discuss out of out of media with all respect to democracy and to free media but there are things that where we have to understand the position of Ukraine and I think that is the most important thing."

"First of all, we want peace. That's why I'm in the United States. That's why I visited President Trump. And thanks for invitation again. The deal on mineral oil is the first step to security guarantees. It's meant for the peace, closer to peace. That's why I'm here," he added.

"I really want him to be more on our side"

When asked about Trump's relationship with Putin, Zelensky was not very pleased with the latter's closeness to the Russian president.

"President Trump, he said that I want to be in the middle, otherwise I will not put these guys at the table. And is he right? I want really, I want to be very honest, I want really him to be more at our side," he added. 

What is missing to achieve peace?

When asked about the end of the war, the Ukrainian leader said they need guarantees, given that "everyone is afraid that Putin will come back tomorrow." "We want security guarantees. We raise this topic about NATO the quickest way, but not all the countries are on this side. I said, OK, if not NATO, nobody is pushing. If not NATO, let's build NATO in Ukraine. That's my position," he added.

"What security guarantees can we have? I'm not pushing. We are not pushing. We are just asking. We're just sharing very clear messages to our friends, to America. If you stay with us, thank you so much. But let's do, let's do the infrastructure of security guarantees," Zelensky continued. At the same time, he repeatedly stressed the need to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine relationship.

Can Ukraine sustain the war without U.S. support?

Baier asked Zelensky that question verbatim. "It will be difficult without your support. That's why I'm here, that's why I'm talking about future negotiations. But we can't lose, we can't lose our freedoms," he replied.

Concerning the U.S. money and weapons sent to help Ukraine, Zelensky assured that there is complete transparency regarding the use of these resources.

"Only Ukrainians vote for their president"

Baier showed the Ukrainian Senator Lindsey Graham's response to the viral discussion in the Oval Room to the Ukrainian president. The South Carolina senator's response was unexpected, as he consistently showed closeness to Zelensky. This time, he asserted he was unsure if they could do business with the Ukrainian leader again.

"I did everything that, everything I had to do. And if somebody is not, I mean, that happy with me, okay. Okay. But between us, yes, Americans vote for American president, each European country vote for their president and only Ukraine. And with all respect to Lindsay, if I can say Lindsay, we know each other. Yes. And only Ukrainians vote for their president," Zelensky concluded.