Michael Hernandez
10 March 2025•Update: 10 March 2025
WASHINGTON
Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's special envoy, shed new light Monday on a letter sent from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the American president, saying it contained an apology for an Oval Office blowup that derailed the planned signing of a critical mineral deal between the US and Kyiv.
Trump had previously disclosed the letter's existence during his joint address to Congress last Tuesday, but Witkoff said: "Zelenskyy sent a letter to the president. He apologized for that whole incident that happened in the office. I think that was an important step.
"And there's been a lot of discussion between our teams, and the Ukrainians, and the Europeans who are relevant to this discussion as well, and I would like to describe it as progress," Witkoff said during a Fox News interview.
"I would hope that there's a deal," he added in remarks delivered just minutes before he was bound to depart the US for a meeting with Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia.
Tensions during the Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting boiled over after Zelenskyy raised doubts over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted in any negotiations aimed at ending the war, citing past agreements that the Russian leader repeatedly broke in the years leading up to the full-scale war he launched on his eastern European neighbor.
Trump had already ruled out Ukraine's membership in NATO, the transatlantic defensive alliance which requires unanimous support for any new member to be admitted, and falsely accused Ukraine of starting Russia's war.
Following the fracas, Zelenskyy abruptly departed the White House, leaving the critical minerals deal unsigned, and cancelling a planned joint press conference with Trump.
