Trump
softens tone on Zelenskyy but repeats threat to take over Greenland
President
praises letter from Ukraine’s leader backing peace talks and says US will get
Greenland ‘one way or another’
Andrew Roth
in Washington
Wed 5 Mar
2025 07.43 CET
Donald Trump
has said he appreciated Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s willingness to sign a minerals
deal with the United States and come to the negotiating table to bring a
lasting peace in Ukraine closer.
“Earlier
today, I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine,” the
US president said in a speech to Congress after last week’s disastrous meeting
at the White House. Quoting from the letter, Trump said Zelenskyy told him that
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring
lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.”
“My team and
I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace
that lasts,” Trump quoted Zelenskyy as writing. “We do really value how much
America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence.”
Trump also
said he had been in “serious discussions with Russia” and claimed he had
“received strong signals that they are ready for peace”.
“Wouldn’t
that be beautiful?” he said. “It’s time to stop this madness. It’s time to halt
the killing. It’s time to end this senseless war. If you want to end wars you
have to talk to both sides.”
The comments
marked a slight softening of Trump’s language on Ukraine in the wake of the
Oval Office clash, after which he ordered a pause on all US military aid to
Ukraine.
Trump was
expected to further outline his plans for Ukraine and Russia in the speech to
Congress, but did not reveal any more details.
In the same
speech Trump said that he will take control of Greenland “one way or another”,
adding that the US was ready to accept the people of the Danish territory
during a speech that escalated the rhetoric surrounding his territorial
ambitions in the western hemisphere.
He defended
recent foreign policy moves including the introduction of new tariffs against
Mexico and Canada that prime minister Justin Trudeau had called a “very dumb
thing to do”.
Trump
claimed that the US will be “reclaiming” the Panama canal, “and we’ve already
started doing it”.
The US
president said that the US needs Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark, for
“national security and even international security”, adding: “I think we’re
going to get it – one way or the other, we’re going to get it.
“I also have
a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland,” he said during his
speech, as both vice-president JD Vance and house speaker Mike Johnson smiled
behind him. “We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And
if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.”
“We will
keep you safe,” he said. “We will make you rich.”
On the
Panama canal, he reacted positively to news that a China-headquartered company
had sold two ports near the canal to American-owned BlackRock. Trump had
claimed the ports could be used to exert Chinese control over the canal, and
recounted that the canal was “built by Americans for Americans, not for others.
But others could use it.
“We didn’t
give it to China; we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” he said
during the speech.
He also gave
a backhanded compliment to his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who recently
travelled to Panama during a Latin American tour that was largely focused on
migration and efforts to regain control over the canal.
“We have
Marco Rubio in charge,” Trump said with relish. “Good luck, Marco. Now we know
who to blame if anything goes wrong.”
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