Cristiano Ronaldo said Wednesday that broken promises by Portugal coach Jorge Jesus drove him to leave the national team camp, but insisted he remains committed to international football and will return after serving any punishment imposed for his actions.

In a lengthy statement, Ronaldo gave his account of the dispute that led him to leave Portugal's training camp in Copenhagen before its Nations League match against Denmark last week.

The 41-year-old acknowledged that walking out was wrong, apologized to his teammates and supporters and said he expects the Portuguese Football Federation to discipline him.

But Ronaldo also made clear that he does not consider the incident the end of his international career.

"If I am physically fit, playing for my club, hopefully scoring goals, then after serving whatever suspension is imposed on me, I will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team," Ronaldo said.

The statement came as Lionel Messi prepared for what was expected to be his farewell appearance for Argentina, underlining that Ronaldo is not yet prepared to follow his longtime rival into international retirement.

The dispute centers on an agreement Ronaldo says he reached with Jesus over his playing time during the latest Nations League window.

Ronaldo said the plan was for him to sit out Portugal's matches against Norway and Denmark as part of a fitness-management program. But on the day of the Norway match, he said Jesus changed course and told him he would play for about 30 minutes.

Ronaldo remained on the bench during Portugal's 2-1 victory in Oslo, warming up from halftime but never entering the match.

"Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from halftime onwards, watched the minutes tick by and wasn't called on," Ronaldo said. "The manager had broken his word to me."

Ronaldo said he later met with Jesus in the presence of Al Nassr sporting director Simao Coutinho and that they agreed the coach would publicly clarify what had happened at his next news conference.

According to Ronaldo, an eight-point document was prepared for Jesus to address. Among the points, Ronaldo said, were that he had never demanded playing time, had respected the coach's decisions and that asking him to warm up without ultimately using him had been a mistake.

Ronaldo said the agreement did not require Jesus to apologize to him personally.

Instead, he said, Jesus' subsequent public comments were completely different from what had been discussed privately.

"It was the second time he had broken his word to me," Ronaldo said. "I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises."

Jesus has disputed Ronaldo's version of events. After Portugal's victory over Norway on Sunday, the coach said he had not reached such an agreement with the forward while leaving open the possibility of Ronaldo returning to the national team.

The Portuguese Football Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ronaldo's statement.

Ronaldo said he had previously considered ending his international career. After the 2022 World Cup, he said, he prepared a farewell letter to Portugal's supporters but ultimately decided to continue after being asked by the federation to remain with the national team.

He also said federation president Pedro Proença had asked for his opinion on Jesus before the coach's appointment and that he considered Jesus the right choice.

Ronaldo said he later told both Jesus and Proença that if they no longer wanted him with the national team, they should simply tell him.

"If they did not want me there, they should tell me," Ronaldo said. "All they had to do was be frank with me. I would have accepted it."

He said he was assured that his place remained with Portugal.

"I remember it as if it were today," Ronaldo said. "They answered in unison that 'no,' that my place was with the national team."

Ronaldo, Portugal's captain and all-time leading scorer, also accepted responsibility for leaving the squad.

He apologized for not greeting supporters after the Norway match and for abandoning his teammates before the Denmark game, saying his status as captain made his behavior more serious.

"Despite the absolute breach of trust in the coach's word, as anyone who witnessed these conversations can attest, I should not have done it," Ronaldo said. "The responsibility is entirely mine."

He said he believed the federation should punish him without taking his stature into account.

"I believe the punishment should be no mitigating factors," Ronaldo said, adding that being captain should be considered "an aggravating factor."

Portugal's disciplinary regulations state that a player who abandons or fails to appear for a national team training session, match or activity without justification can face a suspension of one to six months, in addition to a fine.

Ronaldo did inform the federation that he was leaving camp, but it remained unclear whether his departure would be considered justified under the regulations.

"Anyone in football as I am knows that, regardless of each person's status, the rules are the same for everyone," Ronaldo said.

Despite the fallout, Ronaldo insisted the dispute had not changed his desire to represent Portugal.

He said his goal remains to compete for the national team as long as he is physically capable, while also promising supporters that a farewell will eventually come.

"I can promise all my fans, and naturally especially all Portuguese people, that we will have one or more farewell matches," Ronaldo said. "There will be time for that."

Ronaldo also rejected the idea that he had interfered with the tactical or technical decisions of Portugal's coaches during his nearly 25-year international career.

"I never interfered in the technical or tactical decisions of any coach or national team manager," he said.

For Ronaldo, however, the central issue was trust rather than playing time.

"I respect the decision, and when they break their word to me, I feel that my place is not here," he said.

He ended his statement by reaffirming his version of events.

"This is, believe me, the purest of truths."