Bret Baier Begins Zelensky Interview by Asking, ‘Do You Think You Owe an Apology to President Trump?’

Fox News anchor Bret Baier opened Friday’s edition of Special Report by twice asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if he felt he owed President Donald Trump an apology over their contentious public conversation earlier in the day.

On Friday afternoon, Trump and Vice President JD Vance grilled Zelensky in an Oval Office talk about a peace deal with Russia. Trump and Vance each spoke over Ukraine’s leader while the former accused Zelensky of flirting with a third world war.

Zelensky left the White House without signing a rare earth mineral deal as expected. Trump later accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and said he would be welcomed back when he wanted “peace.”

On Special Report, Baier opened the show by making note of the controversial meeting. He then pressed Zelensky as to whether he felt an apology to Trump was in order.

“President Trump said after your meeting that you disrespected him and the vice president and all of America in the Oval Office,” Baier said. “Do you think you did, and do you think you owe an apology to President Trump?”

Zelensky did not address the question in his response:

Thanks so much. First of all, thank you for the invitation. And good evening to all your Americans. I’m very thankful to Americans for all your support. You did a lot. I’m thankful to President Trump and to Congress bipartisan support. And I was always very thankful from all our people. You helped us a lot from the very beginning. You, in three years, you helped us to survive. And anyway, we are strategic partners.

And even in such top dialogue and I think we have to be very honest. And we have to be very direct to understand each other because it’s very for us, very necessary to President Trump and I’m, with all respect, that he wants to finish this war but not – nobody wants to finish more than we because we, in Ukraine, we are in this war.

Baier cut in and responded, “So, I’m not hearing from you, Mr. President, a thought that you owe the president an apology.”

Zelensky replied that he did not feel he owed an apology and that some of what was discussed could or should have taken place behind closed doors.

“No,” he said. “I respect president. And I respect American people. And if – I don’t know if – I think that we have to be very open and very honest. And I’m not sure that we did something bad. I think maybe sometimes some things we have to discuss out of – out of media.”

Ukraine has been in a defensive stalemate with Russia for three years.

Watch above via Fox News.