"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," Zelensky said in a post on X.
"Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people," he added. "Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
No security pledges, no rare-earth deal
Zelensky took to X after he left the White House early, departing without obtaining security pledges or signing the expected US-Ukrainian deal on rare earth minerals following his heated exchange with Trump, news agencies reported.
Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform that Zelensky is "not ready for peace if America is involved."
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said.
He added: "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Friday's meeting between Zelensky and Trump descended into a shouting match over Russia's war against Ukraine and Washington's support for Kyiv.
During the exchange, Trump and Zelensky, joined by US Vice President JD Vance, raised their voices in an argument over the nature of US support and whether Ukraine had shown sufficient gratitude.
Zelensky made a trip to Washington hoping to ensure continued US security assistance against Russia's three-year invasion, US broadcaster CNN reported.
'You’re gambling with World War III'
"You’re not really in a good position right now," Trump told Zelensky in the Oval Office, his voice rising.
"You’re gambling with World War III," he warned.
Vance accused Zelensky of being "disrespectful" for attempting to argue Ukraine’s case in public.
The exchange underscored growing tensions between Trump and Zelensky as Ukraine continues to seek military aid amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Trump last week denounced Zelensky as "a dictator without elections" and warned that he must "move fast" to secure peace with Russia or risk losing his country.
In response, Zelensky said on Sunday that he was willing to step down if it would guarantee peace in Ukraine, adding that he could trade his resignation for the country's NATO membership.
Zelensky's official five-year term as president expired last year, but he has opposed holding elections while Ukraine remains under full-scale Russian invasion—a stance backed by his major domestic political opponents, according to reports.
Trump has also mocked Zelensky as "a modestly successful comedian" and accused him of talking the United States into spending USD 350 billion "to go into a war that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a war that he, without the US and Trump, will never be able to settle."
Speaking to reporters in Florida on February 18, Trump blamed Ukraine's authorities for the war and suggested they "could have made a deal" with Russia earlier.
Russia invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on February 24, 2022, starting the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 1,100 of Russia's war on Ukraine.
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Source: CNN, IAR, PAP