Key events
Andrew Roth
JD Vance was supposed to be the inconsequential vice-president.
But his starring role in Friday’s blowup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – where he played a cross between Trump’s bulldog and tech bro Iago – may mark the moment that the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally collapsed.
Trump and Vance teamed up to goad Zelenskyy into a feud in the Oval Office. But it was Vance that snaked his way in first, riling up the Ukrainian president by telling him that he was leading “propaganda tours” of the destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion.
“I think it’s disrespectful to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media,” Vance said, his voice rising. “You bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr President … 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?”
“During the war, everyone has problems,” Zelenskyy replied. “But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future.”
“You don’t know that,” Trump interjected angrily. “You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
The rest, as Trump would later call it, was “great television”. By design, it was disastrous for Ukraine.
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Circling back to European leaders throwing their support behind Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his clash with Donald Trump, here are some of the political reactions from across the region, care of Agence France-Presse.
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European Union chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa assured Zelenskyy 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.”
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Emmanuel Macron said Russia was the “aggressor” in the war and “we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so”. The French president went further to say that “if anyone is playing at world war three, it’s Vladimir Putin”, referring to Trump’s accusations against Zelenskyy.
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Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, assured his support to Zelenskyy, saying: “We must never confuse the aggressor and the victim in this terrible war.” Outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz also voiced support for Ukraine, as did foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who added that Kyiv’s “quest for peace and security is ours”.
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Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni called for the US, Europe and their allies to gather over the Ukraine war. “A summit without delay is needed… to talk frankly about how we intend to tackle today’s major challenges, starting with Ukraine,” she said.
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“Dutch support for Ukraine remains undiminished. Especially now,” prime minister Dick Schoof said on X, adding “we want lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression that Russia has started”.
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Poland also reassured Kyiv after the dispute. “Dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” prime minister Donald Tusk said on X in a post addressed to Zelenskyy.
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Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would stand by Kyiv. “Ukraine, Spain stands with you,” he said on X.
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Keir Starmer vowed “unwavering support” for Ukraine. The British prime minister “is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Ukraine’s air defences destroyed 103 of 154 drones that Russia launched in its latest overnight strike, Kyiv’s air force said on Saturday.
The other 51 drones were “locationally lost”, it said, likely as a result of electronic jamming, Reuters reports.
The astonishing scenes in the Oval Office dominated British front pages on Saturday, with newspapers united in their horror. Adjectives including disastrous and vile were used to describe the meeting in which Donald Trump and JD Vance openly berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Guardian (pictured) leads with a quote from Trump: “You are gambling with world war three”, characterising the meeting between the US and Ukrainian presidents as “disastrous”. In a separate sketch of the row, David Smith writes that “Trump on Friday presided over one of the greatest diplomatic disasters in modern history”.
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Donald Trump had received Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House to discuss a controversial mineral resources deal that the US president has said is the first step towards a ceasefire agreement he is seeking to broker between Russia and Ukraine.
But the Friday meeting degenerated after Zelenskyy suggested that JD Vance, a skeptic of US support for Ukraine, should come to the country to see the destruction from the invasion and that Russia was responsible for the continued fighting, as Andrew Roth and Lauren Gambino report.
During the public part of the meeting, Trump and Vance took turns to berate Zelenskyy, with Vance accusing him of carrying out “publicity tours” and Trump telling him: “You’re not really in a good position right now.”
At one point Vance demanded: “Have you said thank you once?”
Picking up the theme, Trump told Zelenskyy: “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?”
Trump then delivered Zelenskyy an ultimatum, telling him that Ukraine must either “make a deal or we are out” – suggesting the US could walk away from negotiations and cut off support to Kyiv.
At one point in the exchange, the Ukrainian ambassador to Washington appeared to be holding her head in her hands.
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, hours after an unprecedented showdown between US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
European leaders have voiced their solidarity with Ukraine in the wake of the disastrous summit, in which Trump said the Ukrainian leader was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”.
Washington’s military support for Kyiv now appears to hang in the balance and talks over a minerals deal have seemingly collapsed after the meeting between Zelenskyy, Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, descended into acrimony on Friday. Trump berated Zelenskyy and then abruptly called off the minerals deal that Trump had said would be the first step towards a ceasefire with Russia.
The meeting had been due to continue behind closed doors but was cut short after the heated exchange, with Zelenskyy leaving the White House early. A press conference to announce the minerals deal was cancelled.
If you are just getting up to speed with the latest developments, here is what you need to know.
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European leaders have rallied behind Zelenskyy after the unprecedented exchange. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council, Antonio Costa, were among the leaders who assured Zelenskyy of Europe’s support. “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader,” said the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. German chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “Ukraine can rely on Germany – and on Europe.” French president Emmanuel Macron said: “Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the aggressed people.” A spokesperson for UK prime minister Keir Starmer said: “He retains his unwavering support for Ukraine.”
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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán stood out in Europe for thanking Trump for having “stood bravely for peace”. Moscow, meanwhile, reacted with glee to the Trump-Zelenskyy clash, with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev – now deputy head of Russia’s security council – saying on Telegram: “A brutal dressing down in the Oval Office.”
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In an interview with Fox news, Zelenskyy expressed regret that the Trump meeting became acrimonious but insisted their relationship could be salvaged. The Ukrainian leader defended himself, but also acknowledged the dispute was “not good for both sides”. Asked if he felt he owed the US president an apology, as many of Trump’s Republican allies have demanded, Zelenskyy did not directly answer, saying instead: “I think that we have to be very open and very honest. And I’m not sure that we did something bad.”
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio called on Zelenskyy to apologise, while questioning whether the Ukrainian leader really wanted a peace deal. Zelenskyy should “apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became”, Rubio told CNN. “There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic.”
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The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine after the Oval Office meeting, according to a report. The decision, if taken, would apply to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority, the Washington Post reports, citing a senior US official.
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US Democratic lawmakers came to Zelenskyy’s defence, condemning Trump and Vance’s “shameful” and “disgraceful” treatment of the Ukrainian leader. But Trump’s Republican colleagues described the Oval Office exchange as evidence the president was “putting America first”. US senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, who was once among the most outspoken advocates for supporting the Ukraine war effort, called on Zelenskyy to resign.
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A Russian drone strike on a medical facility and other targets in Kharkiv late on Friday injured at least five people, according to local officials. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said eight drones hit civilian areas in three central districts of Ukraine’s second largest city. More than 50 people were evacuated from the medical facility and emergency crews were bringing a fire triggered by the strike under control, he said. Dozens of buildings were damaged.
