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Residents of Kyiv have strongly expressed their support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his tense meeting with former US President Donald Trump at the White House. According to Reuters, Ukrainians who have spoken to him are convinced: Zelenskyy has shown leadership and Ukraine should not compromise with the Kremlin.
During the meeting, Zelenskyy directly addressed Trump, urging him “not to negotiate with a murderer” regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin. In response, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of provoking World War III and said that Kyiv was not showing enough gratitude for US military assistance.
“Trump has finally realised that Zelenskyy is not a president who can be forced to give in,” said Mila, a human resources manager who spoke to reporters in central Kyiv.
“It is not Ukraine that is inciting the Third World War. We are just being used as a bargaining chip in this game,” says Oksana, a business consultant.
Ukrainian officials support Zelenskyy
After the White House incident, Ukrainian officials and public figures spoke out in support of Zelenskyy, stressing the need for unity in the country.
“President Zelenskyy has the courage and strength to fight for the truth,” Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who also attended the meeting, wrote on social media.
However, despite the wave of support, Kyiv does not hide its concerns about a possible deterioration in relations with the United States.
“Without the weapons supplied by the US, we cannot win this war. And I don’t know what will happen next,” said Andriy, a 59-year-old university lecturer.
Washington meeting: what went wrong
It was expected that the talks between Zelenskyy and Trump would help improve their personal relationship and lead to the signing of an agreement under which the US would receive a share of the profits from Ukrainian resources. Instead, however, the meeting turned into a public dispute.
Trump’s refusal to condemn Russia provoked a sharp reaction from Zelenskyy, and the ensuing discussion only exacerbated the disagreement.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago and has been holding the occupied territories since 2014.
