US President Donald Trump (R) and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb 28, 2025. [Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP]
The very public argument between President of the United States Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky was the "opposite of diplomacy", and the damage it has caused will be "hard to repair", and it remains to be seen whether Washington will stop sending weapons to Kyiv, analysts said.
The heated exchange flared up in the Oval Office in the White House on Friday over differing visions of how to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. European leaders reacted by overwhelmingly voicing support for Zelensky, offering near-unanimous backing.
A meeting of European leaders took place in London on Sunday for crisis talks that seek to boost security cooperation and support for Ukraine.
The meeting at the White House on Friday between Trump — who was joined by Vice-President JD Vance — and Zelensky developed into a shouting match while the television cameras rolled.
Trump accused Zelensky of "gambling with World War III" and claimed Ukraine lacked the "cards" to fight Russia, while Vance labeled him disrespectful and ungrateful.
Trump later declared on social media X that Zelensky is "not ready for Peace if America is involved".
Zelensky departed the White House less than three hours after he arrived, canceling lunch and a scheduled news conference. A highly anticipated rare earth minerals deal was also not signed.
Public response
Meanwhile, in central Kyiv on Saturday, stunned Ukrainians were still coming to terms with how the talks between the two presidents had gone, according to Euronews. "I'm quite shocked by all of this," said 23-year-old chef Daniel Novak. "But for now, I understand that Zelensky is doing his best, that he is holding on."
Ukrainians, hardened by three years of conflict, rallied around Zelensky but also expressed concern over future US backing for Kyiv. "I doubt that we could stand without American help. They have helped us a lot with weapons and money. Maybe Europe will help us," Kyiv resident Liudmyla Stetsevych, 47, told Reuters.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said what many saw as Trump, Vance and Zelensky sparring in public was "diplomacy in action with blunt talk and a clarity that you rarely, rarely see … part and parcel of what it means to make America great again".
However, not everyone agreed. "Public debates like those are the opposite of diplomacy in action. In my view, the relation had soured before the meeting, which only confirmed that fact," Stanley Renshon, a political scientist at the City University of New York, said on Saturday.
"The relation will not improve but continue as it now is," Renshon told China Daily. "All that is left to watch for now is the ongoing charade."
Cal Jillson, a political scientist and historian at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said that inviting reporters and cameras into the Oval Office and then dressing down a "beleaguered wartime ally" was not diplomacy.
"The damage created by such a public break will be hard to repair. Trump will require more access to Ukrainian minerals; he and Vance will require that Zelensky crawl, and he seems unwilling to do that. But pressure on him will build," Jillson said in an email.
Jillson added that one of the things to watch for in the coming weeks would be "how fast and fully the major European states move to fill the intelligence and material gaps left as American assistance declines".
For James M. Lindsay, a senior fellow in US foreign policy and director of Fellowship Affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations, the main thing to watch for is whether Trump cuts US weapons shipments to Ukraine.
Lindsay said the "acrimonious" meeting with Zelensky that culminated in the Ukrainian president being asked to leave the White House "has no precedent", as heads of government generally do not bicker in front of the cameras.
The researcher said in a note posted right after Friday's meeting that although Trump said that he might reduce US military aid to Ukraine once in office, that has yet to happen.
"Ukraine's ability to hold off Russia depends on maintaining the flow of US weapons. Everything changes if that stops," Lindsay wrote.
"Europe cannot make up the shortfall. So while the rhetorical fireworks between Trump (and Vance) and Zelensky grab the headlines — Trump himself said that today's meeting made for 'great television' — deeds matter more than words," he added.
World reacts
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shake hands during a meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, England, Saturday, March 1, 2025. Peter Nicholls/Pool Photo via AP
In a show of unity, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa posted identical messages on X right after the row.
"Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone … We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace," they wrote.
Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his likely successor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and some two dozen other European leaders also sent messages of support.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said: "Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us Europeans to take this challenge."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was one of the few who sided with Trump. "Strong men make peace, weak men make war," Orban said on X.
Orban and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico sent a letter on Saturday to European Council President Costa, calling for the EU to engage in direct ceasefire talks with Russia.
A day after the spat, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warmly welcomed Zelensky in London, reiterating his support for Kyiv.
During their meeting at Downing Street on Saturday, Starmer said Ukraine has "full backing across the United Kingdom". He stressed Britain's "unwavering determination" to achieve lasting peace.
Britain and Ukraine have agreed on a loan of 2.26 billion pounds ($2.35 billion) to support Ukraine's defense capabilities, according to Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
The Friday spat also made headlines across Europe.
"We just saw the end of our relationship with Trump," the cover of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung claimed.
"Trump humiliated Zelensky," Spain's newspaper El Pais wrote.
Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.
