Ukrainians have rallied behind Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his mauling on Friday in the White House, and have accused Donald Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance, of deliberately and cynically “starting a brawl”.

There was widespread support for Ukraine’s president at home and dismay at his car-crash encounter in the Oval Office. There was also praise for Zelenskyy’s insistence that a peace deal without security guarantees was meaningless, and that Russia could not be trusted.

The bitter fallout continued on Saturday. There were reports that Trump – who claimed Zelenskyy had “disrespected” him and was “not ready for peace” – was planning to cut off all military supplies to Ukraine.

Senior Ukrainian officials said that without meaningful security pledges any ceasefire deal with Moscow would not last.

MBFC
Archive