BREITBART | Published March 4, 2025
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could “strengthen his hand” in negotiations with Russia regarding a peace deal by calling for and winning “a new election.”
In a press release issued Tuesday, Golden highlighted how “Ukrainians have fought bravely against Russian aggression,” while adding that a long war “of attrition is likely to make” Ukraine’s outcome worse.
Golden noted that “if peace” really was on the table, like Zelensky had indicated in a post on X — reiterating “Ukraine’s commitment to peace,” then Zelensky “should do what it takes to strengthen his hand in negotiating a deal his people can accept.” In doing so, it would “show the world he has the mandate to negotiate on behalf” of Ukraine.
“If the Ukrainians still have the will to fight, no one will be able to force a peace deal on them that they don’t like,” Golden said in his statement. “But if peace is on the table, as President Zelenskyy indicated just today, then he should do what it takes to strengthen his hand in negotiating a deal his people can accept. One way to do that is to call and win a new election — to show the world he has the mandate to negotiate on behalf of his people.”
Golden’s press release comes after Zelensky issued a statement on X that Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table,” adding that the Ukrainian government was “ready to work fast to end the war.”
“I would like to reiterate Ukraine’s commitment to peace,” Zelensky wrote. “None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians.”
Zelensky added that he and his team were “ready to work under” President Donald Trump’s “strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
The statement from Zelensky continued:
Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.
Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.
Zelensky’s statement comes after he met with Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office on Friday.
After about 40 minutes of conversation, Zelensky and Vance had a back-and-forth discussion about diplomacy, with Zelensky attempting to dismiss Vance’s idea of diplomacy. Vance went on to inform Zelensky had it was “disrespectful” of Zelensky to “come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
Zelensky went on to dispute Vance’s claim that Ukraine was having conscription “problems,” stating that during war, “everybody has problems,” and added even the United States would “feel it in the future.” This led to Trump jumping in and telling Zelensky not to tell them what they would “feel.”
“We’re trying to solve a problem, don’t tell us what we’re going to feel because you’re in no position to dictate that. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel,” Trump told Zelensky.
Trump also interjected when Zelensky attempted to claim that Ukraine had “been alone” in the war against Russia.Zelensky
“You haven’t been alone,” Trump said. “We gave you, through [our] stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. … If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would’ve been over in two weeks.”
After the meeting, Zelensky was asked to leave the White House, and left without signing an expected minerals deal.
As Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong previously reported, the minerals deal would have given U.S. “access to critical minerals in Ukraine in exchange for economic and possibly military aid.”
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: Maine Democrat urges Zelensky to ‘call and win a new election’
THE HILL | Published March 5, 2025
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “call and win a new election” to “strengthen his hand” in negotiating a peace agreement to end the three-year war in Eastern Europe.
Golden, a battleground district Democrat, praised Ukrainian soldiers for “bravely” fighting against Russian troops but argued that a prolonged war of “attrition” would make Kyiv’s outcome “worse, not better.”
“If the Ukrainians still have the will to fight, no one will be able to force a peace deal on them that they don’t like,” Golden said in a statement on Tuesday.
“But if peace is on the table, as President Zelenskyy indicated just today, then he should do what it takes to strengthen his hand in negotiating a deal his people can accept,” Golden stated. “One way to do that is to call and win a new election — to show the world he has the mandate to negotiate on behalf of his people.”
Tensions have been bubbling up between Trump and Zelensky even before their explosive fallout on Friday in the Oval Office.
Trump previously hammered Zelensky over his leadership of the nation, calling him a “dictator without elections,” doing a “terrible job” as the head of the war-torn country and blaming Ukraine for starting the war.
Zelensky fired back, claiming Trump was living in a Russian “disinformation space.”
The commander-in-chief also questioned why Zelensky did not hold a country-wide election.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
Because of the marital law imposed after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Ukraine’s presidential election was postponed.
On Tuesday morning, Zelensky described his heated meeting at the White House Friday with Trump and Vice President Vance as “regrettable,” but stopped short of offering an apology over the huddle that appeared to strain the relations between Washington and Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president also said in the Tuesday social media post that Kyiv is ready to negotiate a peace deal to put an end to the conflict in Eastern Europe.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” Zelensky wrote. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
Golden said on Tuesday that Trump’s push to secure peace between the two sides is “appropriate,” but also added that Russia still is a “threat” to America.
“Pushing for peace is appropriate for President Trump, but whatever he does to help bring an end to this war should keep in mind the truth that Russia has been, and continues to be, a threat to America,” Golden said on Tuesday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Ukraine’s ardent backers on Capitol Hill, said he was “proud” of Trump and questioned if Washington could still do to “do business” with Zelensky again after Friday’s blowup.
“He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,” Graham added.
The South Carolina lawmaker seemed to commend Zelensky for his Tuesday X post, saying that “Better days are ahead.”
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