NEW YORK, March 5. /TASS/. Top officials of US President Donald Trump's administration held backchannel conversations Vladimir Zelensky following his dustup with the US leader at the Oval Office, CNN reported, citing sources.

The officials stressed the importance of a prompt stabilization of relations and urged Zelensky to get talks back on track before Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night, the sources said.

One of the officials that reached out to Kiev was Keith Kellogg, the US president’s Ukraine and Russia envoy, one of the sources said.

Trump said during the Congress speech that he had received a message from Zelensky that expressed his readiness to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. Zelensky indicated that he is ready to sign a minerals deal with the US at any time. Washington has made a potential resumption of weapons supplies to Ukraine contingent on Kiev’s readiness for talks.

On February 28, Zelensky met with Trump at the White House. Their televised exchange suddenly unraveled into a shouting match, with Trump scolding Zelensky for being disrespectful to the US, and Vance saying that Zelensky had never thanked the country for all the support provided to Kiev. A news conference scheduled to follow the meeting was canceled. The countries didn’t sign the deal on minerals. The US president posted a statement to Truth Social, telling off Zelensky for being disrespectful and not ready for peace.