Trump softens on Zelenskyy in speech to Congress

U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a rapprochement with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech to Congress overnight, saying he had received “an important letter” from the Ukrainian leader, which “I appreciate.”

Trump recited the purported content of the letter, which he said included gratitude for U.S. support to Kyiv in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, a promise by Zelenskyy and his team to “work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” and an undertaking to sign a minerals deal with Washington.

“I appreciate that he sent this letter — just got it a little while ago,” Trump said in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday.

“Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” Trump added. “Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”

The language is a significant departure from last week’s bitter Oval Office clash between Zelenskyy and Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, which was followed by the suspension of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Monday. That came after weeks of Trump taking a harsher tone about Ukraine than Russia, despite the fact it was Moscow that invaded its neighbor. 

The Kremlin responded by praising the Trump administration and saying the United States’ vision now largely aligned with its own.

In damage-control mode, Zelenskyy on Tuesday proposed a limited truce with Russia and said his country was willing to move forward on a minerals and security deal with the U.S.

“Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way,” Zelenskyy wrote on X on Tuesday. “It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”