Different approach to Ukraine emerges between Europe, US

The diplomatic maneuverings after the sensational clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued on Sunday, with the latter telling reporters he was still open to a minerals deal, while White House officials pressed their views on the talk shows.

Zelensky, speaking after a summit of European leaders in London on Sunday, said he still was "ready to sign" a deal to cede control of as much as 50 percent of Ukraine's rare earth minerals to the United States in exchange for security guarantees, but added, "I just want the Ukrainian position to be heard."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has called for a "once in a generation moment" response to the crisis, met with 18 political leaders on Sunday to support Ukraine.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News on Sunday that it was "impossible to have an economic deal without a peace deal".

Bessent said Zelensky had "thrown off the sequencing" of the minerals and peace deal and chose to "relitigate" discussions in public at the Oval Office on Friday when they should have taken place in private.

"A cease-fire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine," Zelensky said on social media on Saturday. "We've been fighting for three years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side."

But Trump has made it clear that he is not looking to take sides to end the three-year conflict, and at Friday's contentious meeting at the White House, he chastised the Ukrainian president for what he called Zelensky's "hatred" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mike Waltz, US national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday: "It was not clear Zelensky was going to go to negotiations at all — that he would ever be able to negotiate with Putin and whether he shared our goal of ending this war. … This was a huge missed opportunity for him and for his country."

Forty-one percent of Republicans see Russia as either "friendly" or an "ally", a CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found, as nearly half of Americans view Trump as backing Russia in its war against Ukraine — and the poll was before the dramatic meeting on Friday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an appearance on ABC News on Sunday, said: "The sooner everyone grows up around here and figures out that this is a bad war that's heading in a bad direction … the more progress we're going to be able to make."

US Senator James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, however, in an interview with NBC News, disagreed with calls by some in his party for Zelensky to step down, which he said "would spiral Ukraine into crisis".

Top Democrats in Washington previously criticized Trump's treatment of Zelensky.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat and a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Trump's and Vance's "behavior" and said in a statement, "Ukrainians have strong bipartisan support for their fight in Congress and Ukrainian flags continue to hang across our communities in the United States."

Starmer is looking to rally Europe to Ukraine's defense.

"Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can't mean that we sit back," he said. "Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others."

Of Starmer's proposal, Clint Russell, a podcaster in Miami, wrote to 236,000 followers on X: "Good luck with that. I'm out. The US should leave the UN and NATO and let these idiots fight. They have lost their minds."

Elon Musk, who heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, responded Saturday to another post calling for the US to withdraw from the United Nations and NATO with, "I agree."

Agencies contributed to this story.

hengweili@chinadailyusa.com