Zelensky thanks ‘American people’ after White House clash with Trump
The Ukrainian leader also thanked the US president and Congress.
Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the “American people” and leadership and held out hope for “strong relations”, the day after an astonishing clash with Donald Trump left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.
Ukraine had walked into a meeting at the White House on Friday prepared to sign a mineral deal with the US, hoping it would be a step towards a just ceasefire, but left empty-handed.
In a series of posts on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said his people are “very grateful to the United States for all the support”, and specifically thanked Mr Trump and Congress alongside the “American people”.
“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: It’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. … American people helped save our people,” he wrote.
“We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them.”
The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the meeting between the two leaders at the Oval Office on Friday seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the US could be confirmed as a reliable partner in helping to fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.
The exchange saw the frustrated Ukrainian president lectured by Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous US support.
“You’re gambling with millions of people … You’re gambling with World War Three,” Mr Trump told Mr Zelensky of his attempts to resist the Russian invasion.
It delighted officials in Moscow who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader.
Mr Zelensky arrived in London on Saturday for a European summit organised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The meeting on Sunday will include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as the Nato secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Portugal’s RTP news channel: “If anyone is gambling with World War Three, his name is Vladimir Putin.
“My hope is that the United States of America will continue to stand by its history and its principles. Whenever we have had major conflicts, the United States of America has been on the right side of history and freedom.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the whole world.
“The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.”
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said “a new era of nefariousness” had begun but vowed that it would only increase her country’s commitment to Ukraine.
“Many of you will have slept fitfully tonight in the face of the unspeakable videos from the White House. Frankly, so did I. Unfortunately, this was not a bad dream, but a violent reality,” she told reporters on Saturday.
“Our horror is greater today than before, but so is our commitment to the people of Ukraine, to our own security and to peace in Europe.”
She described Ukraine as “part of free and democratic Europe” and said there is no question about who is the aggressor and who is “the brave defender” in the war.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry described the Oval Office clash as a “complete political and diplomatic failure” for Kyiv.
In a statement on Saturday, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also condemned the “political weakness and extreme moral degradation” of European leaders who continue to support Ukraine and its president.
She said Russia’s war aims remain unchanged, implying Moscow will insist on a demilitarised Ukraine barred from Nato, and on annexing the Ukrainian territories it controls.
