White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said the United States aims to achieve a permanent peace between Moscow and Kiev that includes a territorial swap in return for European-led security guarantees. He added that this requires a Ukrainian leader who is willing to make a lasting peace with Russia, but it is not clear whether Mr. Zelensky is prepared to do so.
Asked if Mr. Trump wants President Zelenskiy to resign, Waltz told CNN's "State of the Union" program that "We need a leader who can make a deal with us, possibly with Russia, and end the war."
"If it becomes clear that President Zelenskyy's personal or political motives conflict with ending the war in his country, then I think we have a real problem," Waltz said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also suggested that Ukraine may need another leader if President Zelenskiy does not comply with the United States' demands.
"Something has to change. Either he has to come to his senses and come back to the table with gratitude, or someone else has to lead the country to do that," Johnson told NBC's "Meet the Press" program.
Friday's Oval Office meeting publicly exposed tensions between President Zelensky and Trump. As a result, an agreement between the two countries to jointly exploit rare earth minerals in Ukraine's subsoil was not signed.
"It was not clear to us that President Zelenskiy was ready to negotiate and in good faith to end this war," Waltz said.
On ABC's "This Week" program, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had not spoken to either President Zelenskyy or Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha since Friday.
"We will be ready to reengage when they are ready for peace," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar told the "This Week" program that she was "shocked" by the clash in the Oval Office and that she had met with President Zelenskiy on Friday, before he went to the White House, and that he was enthusiastic about signing the minerals agreement.
"There is still room" for a peace agreement, she said. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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