LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday gave Volodymyr Zelensky a warm welcome to his Downing Street offices, a day after the Ukrainian leader’s clash with US President Donald Trump. “You’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street,” Starmer told Zelensky. “And as you’ve heard from the cheers street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take.”
Starmer said both leaders wanted to achieve “a lasting peace for Ukraine, based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine — so important for Europe and so important for the United Kingdom”.
Zelensky responded that had seen the hundreds of supporters gathered outside Downing Street, and that “I want to thank you, the people of the United Kingdom, for such big support from the very beginning of this war”.
“I’m very happy that his majesty the king accepted my meeting tomorrow and we are very happy in Ukraine that we have such a strategic partner,” he added. “We count on your support.”
Earlier, Ukraine’s European allies, set to gather in London on Sunday, rallied behind President Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump threw him out of the White House and accused him of not being “ready” for peace with Russia.
Stunned by Friday’s altercation in the Oval Office, which saw Zelensky depart the White House without signing an expected mineral deal, European leaders rushed to his defence.
“You are not alone,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fresh off his own visit to the White House, said he had spoken to both Trump and Zelensky, and vowed “unwavering support” for Kyiv. Zelensky wrote “Thank you for your support” in individual replies on social media platform X to around 30 messages from European leaders.
On Sunday, representatives from more than a dozen European countries will convene in the British capital to focus on shoring up support for “securing a just and enduring peace” in Ukraine, according to Downing Street. The gathering will also address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation amid fears over whether the United States will continue to support NATO.
European Union chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa assured Zelensky that he was “never alone”. “Be strong, be brave, be fearless,” wrote the European commission and council presidents in a joint statement on social media, telling Zelensky: “We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.”
Germany´s foreign minister said the “unspeakable” row between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House resembled a “bad dream”. “Yesterday evening underlined that a new age of infamy has begun,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a televised statement. “Many of you will have slept uneasily after seeing the unspeakable videos from the White House,” she said, adding: “Honestly, I did too.”
“Sadly this was not a bad dream, but a heavy reality,” she said. She rejected “switching... the roles of victim and aggressor” in the conflict, an allusion to Trump’s comments that Zelensky was “gambling with World War III”. Hungary’s Viktor Orban urged the EU to open direct talks with Moscow to end the Ukraine war and vowed to oppose a bloc-wide accord on the conflict, according to a letter obtained by AFP.
Other Ukrainian allies also rallied behind Zelensky, with Canada saying Kyiv was not only fighting for its freedom but also “ours”.
Denmark described its “pride” in supporting Ukraine while Sweden referred to Ukrainians as “friends”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country will “stand with Ukraine” for as long as needed while New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon praised Ukraine as “a proud, democratic and sovereign nation”.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said her country was “firmly committed to supporting a just and lasting peace, while condemning Russia´s aggression against a sovereign state”.
Trump stunned many in Europe when he reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a deal on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago. Trump’s sudden shift on Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin, has rattled the transatlantic alliance.
During the clash, in front of US and international media, Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being “thankful” and refusing to accept their proposed truce terms. “You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said. “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty”.
Zelensky said there should be “no compromises with a killer on our territory”. The session then boiled over into Trump and Vance loudly berating the Ukrainian leader, who sat in evident discomfort as his hosts talked over him.
Zelensky departed shortly after, with Trump posting on social media that “he can come back when he is ready for peace”. US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials. Zelensky refused to apologise, telling Fox News, “I’m not sure that we did something bad”. He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters. When asked by Fox News if the relationship with Trump could be salvaged, Zelensky said “of course”. But he also said he wished Trump was “really more on our side”.
Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion. He said in the Oval Office that he had “spoken on numerous occasions” to Putin — more than has been publicly reported.
Russia was meanwhile delighted. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called Zelensky an “insolent pig” who had received “a proper slap down. “Zelensky’s Washington trip was a “complete failure”, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said. In a related development, UK strengthened national security and bolstereed Ukraine’s war chest with £2.26 billion military loan.