Politico: France helps Mr. Zelensky write a letter of apology to Mr. Trump

According to RT, Politico on April 16 quoted an anonymous official as saying that French diplomats were said to have helped Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky draft a conciliatory letter to US President Donald Trump, aiming to help the two leaders mend relations.

Relations between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky have been strained since the Ukrainian leader visited Washington in late February. During a meeting at the White House, attended by US Vice President JD Vance, Mr. Zelensky opposed Mr. Trump’s efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

In response, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance accused Mr. Zelensky of being ungrateful for American support and “betting on World War III” by refusing to engage in peace talks with Moscow. That meeting was cut short, and Mr. Zelensky was asked to leave, only to return when he was ready for peace. Mr. Trump also temporarily suspended all U.S. military aid to Ukraine after the tense exchange, but later resumed assistance when Kiev agreed to a proposed 30-day ceasefire.

Politico said that despite the resumption of contact, the relationship between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump remained tense. In the weeks after the dispute, diplomats in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom “worked hard to repair the severely damaged relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelensky.”

While British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held phone calls with both leaders and sent advisers to both Washington and Kiev, French diplomats helped Mr. Zelensky draft a letter seeking reconciliation with Mr. Trump, Politico quoted a French official as saying.

Although the contents of the letter have not been released, Mr. Trump's special envoy, Mr. Steve Witkoff, said it included an apology from the Ukrainian leader for the incident in the Oval Office. The US president also confirmed that he had received an "important" letter from Mr. Zelensky, in which the Ukrainian leader expressed his willingness to "sit at the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Russia and Ukraine then agreed to a 30-day partial ceasefire, which prohibited attacks on each other's energy infrastructure. However, Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of violating the agreement almost daily.

In a related development, after a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Mr. Witkoff said on April 14 that the Ukraine peace process was “on the verge” of a breakthrough. He also confirmed that the Russian leader was pursuing a lasting solution to the conflict – a position Moscow has repeatedly affirmed from the beginning.