Kiev (Reuters) – Relations between Ukraine and the United States are “back on track,” President Ukrainian’s chief of staff told Reuters after a troubled White House meeting last month between the leaders of both countries.
Andriy Yermak said two rounds of negotiations on a possible ceasefire, held in Saudi Arabia, provided Kiev the opportunity to show US authorities that she is open to working with US President Donald Trump in their attempt to end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
Yermak, chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said this contrasts with the Russian negotiation approach, which he said involves imposing conditions for a peace agreement.
“I think we have great conversations with Americans,” Yermak said in an interview at his Kiev office on Tuesday. “I think we’re back on the rails.”
A meeting at the White House on February 28, between Zelenskiy and Trump, became a tense discussion with Trump and Vice President JD Vance saying that the Ukrainian leader has shown disrespect.
Since then, Kiev has launched an initiative to recover her relationship, starting with a call on March 19 between Trump and Zelenskiy, which Yermak described as “great.”
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So far, it is unclear whether Kiev’s approach will lead to concrete results in negotiations or change Trump’s desire to strengthen the ties with Moscow.
Describing conversations in Saudi Arabia, where US authorities have been trying to intermediate agreements between Russia and Ukraine, Yermak said, “We show that we are very serious and the Americans understood.”
In contrast, he said, “Russia is just kidding.”
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Moscow said he is committed to the conquest of peace and accused Kiev of harming the process by launching attacks on targets in Russia.
On Tuesday, in Saudi Arabia, the US reached separate deals with Ukraine and Russia to stop the Black Sea attacks and against energy targets, but it was unclear when and how the agreements will come into force.
Russia has conditioned the truce in the Black Sea on loosening sanctions so that it can recover access to international fertilizer export markets and agricultural products.
