A vital deal between Ukraine and the US is in tatters after Volodymyr Zelensky was thrown out of the White House as talks with Donald Trump blew up into a bitter public row.
Shocked world leaders have publicly rallied behind the Ukrainian president, with one European leader calling for a snap summit after Trump and his deputy JD Vance angrily accused the Ukrainian leader of gambling with a third world war, claiming he was “disrespectful” and “ungrateful”.
Mr Zelensky has refused to apologise over the globally televised spat but said his relationship with the president is salveagable.
However, a White House official said Trump was uninterested in reviving the minerals deal between both countries, while Trump is considering axing military aid to Ukraine, according to a Washington Post report.
Asked what Mr Zelensky could do to win his support, Trump said: “He’s got to say ‘I want to make peace. He doesn’t have to stand there and say ‘Putin this and Putin that - all negative things.”
Earlier, the Oval Office talks descended into a furious shouting match, ending with the Ukrainian president leaving without having signed a deal pivotal to securing US help in ending the war with Russia.
Mr Trump ejected Mr Zelensky, even when the Ukrainian team were said to have been begging for a “reset” in relations.
Kremlin officials reacted with glee. Russian former president Dmitry Medvedev wrote: “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office. And @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII’.”
The meeting started courteously but descended into open acrimony as both Republicans demanded Mr Zelensky show gratitude.
The US president claimed Mr Zelensky would have no power without him, berated him for “gambling with millions of lives” and said he could either make a deal or “fight it out”.
Mr Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart, who had flown to Washington to try to win security guarantees: “You’re gambling with world war three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”
The exchange prompted an outpouring of support for Mr Zelensky from Western leaders, including Keir Starmer, who said Ukraine had his “unwavering support”. French president Emmanuel Macron, outgoing German chancellor Olaf Scholz and his successor Friedrich Merz were also among those to back the Ukrainian leader, as was Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who said Mr Zelensky was “never alone”.
In a statement, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni called for an immediate US-European summit to overcome the fresh divisions. "Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favours those who would like to see the decline of our civilization," she said.
British also politicians rallied to Mr Zelensky’s defence, including Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dems leader Sir Ed Davey, who branded Trump’s behaviour “thuggery”.
Conservative former leadership candidate Robert Jenrick posted on social media: “I’m sickened by that degrading spectacle. And to think the bust of Winston Churchill was in the same room as it unfolded. He would be turning in his grave if he saw that happen.”
Mr Zelensky had arrived at the White House expecting to sign a deal that would grant the US access to the country’s rare earth materials as the Ukrainian leader seeks US backing in trying to bring the war with Russia to a close.
Mr Vance told him: “Mr President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
The Ukrainian president tried to object, prompting Mr Trump to raise his voice and say: “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.”
The US president repeatedly insisted: “You’re not in a good position right now.”
In a later post on Truth Social, Mr Trump repeated his claim that Mr Zelensky was “disrespectful”. “I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Mr Trump wrote. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”
“He can come back when he is ready for Peace," he added.
After the chaotic row, Mr Zelensky posted: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
At the start of the talks in the Oval Office meeting watched by the world’s media, Mr Trump said the US had held “very good” discussions with Russia and they were “fairly close” to a ceasefire agreement.
He said he did not ally himself more with Ukraine than Russia. Asked whether he positioned himself in the middle or on Ukraine’s side, Mr Trump said: “I’m in the middle. I want to solve this thing. I’m for both. I want to get it solved.”
He said the US would continue sending arms to Ukraine but that Mr Zelensky would “certainly” need to make compromises to end the war - however the later Washington Post report thrust that commitment into question.
Soon, both Americans were talking over Mr Zelensky in bitter exchanges. Mr Vance said: “Have you said ‘thank you’ once? You went to Pennsylvania to campaign for the opposition.”
As the Ukrainian president tried to respond, Mr Trump butted in, saying: “You’re running low on soldiers… then you’re telling us you don’t want a ceasefire.”
Mr Vance told Mr Zelensky: “Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems, you should be thanking the president.
“Do you disagree that you’ve had problems bringing people in your military, and do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Later Mr Zelensky appeared on Fox News, saying he couldn’t change his attitude towards Russia, who started the war in February 2022 by invading Ukraine. “They are killers for us,” he said.
He also described a minerals deal as a “first step” towards the provision of security guarantees for the war-ravaged nation, and refused to apologise over the spat, questioning what he had done wrong earlier.
Asked whether he believed the relationship between him and Trump could be repair, he replied, “of course.”
“It’s more than just two presidents,” he said.
The clash undermines recent efforts by European leaders to convince Mr Trump to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, even if he has refused to deploy US soldiers on Ukrainian soil. Such guarantees are seen as crucial to deter Russia from future aggression.
The row is likely to dominate Sunday’s discussions in London between leaders of countries including Germany, France and Poland, as well as Mr Zelensky, at talks hosted by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Last week, Mr Trump let slip his antipathy towards the Ukrainian leader, branding him a “dictator without elections”, prompting outrage in the UK. However, in a meeting with Keir Starmer on Thursday, Mr Trump downplayed the jibe, claiming not to recall having used those words.
