For months main into the American elections final fall, the prospect of a second Trump presidency deepened uncertainty amongst Ukrainians over how enduring American assist would show in a battle threatening their nationwide survival.
After President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous meeting with President Trump within the White Home on Friday, many Ukrainians had been shifting towards a conclusion that appeared completely clear: Mr. Trump has chosen a aspect, and it isn’t Ukraine’s.
In a single jaw-dropping assembly, the as soon as unthinkable concern that Ukraine could be compelled to interact in an extended battle in opposition to a stronger opponent with out U.S. assist appeared to maneuver exponentially nearer to actuality.
“For Ukraine, it’s clarifying, although not in an effective way,” Phillips O’Brien, a global relations professor on the College of St. Andrews in Scotland, mentioned in an interview. “Ukraine can now solely depend on European states for the assist it must combat.”
The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, mentioned on Saturday that Europe should stand with Ukraine, and stop the nation “from having to simply accept subjugation.”
“The scene on the White Home yesterday took my breath away,” he told the German press agency onboard a plane. “I might by no means have believed that we might ever need to defend Ukraine from the US.”
An instantaneous consequence was that Ukrainians, together with opposition politicians, had been typically supportive of Mr. Zelensky on Saturday for not bending to Mr. Trump regardless of great strain.
Maryna Schomak, a civilian whose son’s most cancers analysis has been sophisticated by the destruction of Ukraine’s largest youngsters’s most cancers hospital by a Russian missile strike, mentioned that Mr. Zelensky had performed himself with dignity.
“They gathered with one aim — to strain us and undermine our authority on the worldwide political stage,” she mentioned of Mr. Trump and his workforce.
Mr. Zelensky signaled on Saturday that he had not utterly given up hope of repairing the connection with Mr. Trump. Posting on social media, he went out of his strategy to thank the US, maybe making an attempt to deal with Mr. Trump’s criticism on Friday that he was ungrateful.
“I’m grateful to President Trump, Congress for his or her bipartisan assist, and American folks,” he wrote. “Ukrainians have at all times appreciated this assist, particularly throughout these three years of full-scale invasion.”
On the similar time, Mr. Zelensky started laying the groundwork for shifting forward with the European nations which have stood by Kyiv’s aspect. Ukraine introduced plans on Saturday for a joint weapons enterprise with France that might be financed by the interest earned from frozen Russian assets.
Later within the day, Mr. Zelensky met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, who has been a supporter of the Ukrainian president within the face of Mr. Trump’s harsh rebukes.
In a stark distinction to Friday’s assembly in Washington, the go to to 10 Downing Avenue started with a heat handshake and a brief embrace. It included a promise from Mr. Starmer to the Ukrainian president that “you might have full backing throughout the UK, and we stand with you and Ukraine for so long as it takes.”
On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky will attend a summit of European leaders hosted by Mr. Starmer.
Whereas a lot of the main focus was on the surprising tone and theatrics of the dressing-down delivered by the American president to a putative ally, Professor O’Brien, the St. Andrew’s scholar, mentioned that Mr. Trump’s feedback advised that the foundation of the general public rupture ran deeper.
“He was making an attempt to strain Zelensky into agreeing to a cease-fire alongside Putin’s traces, and Zelensky refused,” Professor O’Brien mentioned, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “Trump comes out and says that explicitly on the finish.”
Mr. Trump had shouted on the Ukrainian chief, “You’re buried there,” and mentioned, “Your individuals are dying. You’re working low on troopers.”
As Mr. Zelensky tried to defend himself, Mr. Trump talked over him.
“No, pay attention,” he continued. “And then you definitely inform us, ‘I don’t need a cease-fire. I don’t need a cease-fire.’”
The trade, Professor O’Brien mentioned, displays Mr. Trump’s perception that “Ukraine ought to shut up and take Trump’s and Putin’s phrases.”
The actual affront that prompted the spectacle, many Ukrainians and analysts imagine, is that Mr. Zelensky pushed again in opposition to a few of Mr. Trump’s phrases.
Alongside the entrance traces, some troopers mentioned that the belief was sinking in that Mr. Trump would in all probability not assist Ukraine. “Trump selected his aspect on this battle,” mentioned Pvt. Serhiy Hnezdilov in a phone interview from the entrance on Saturday.
Personal Hnezdilov mentioned that he supported Mr. Zelensky’s stance, including that he thought the try to humiliate the Ukrainian chief was in all probability the aim of the invitation to the White Home.
“The scandal we witnessed was basically the one function of that assembly,” the personal mentioned. “It seemed totally absurd, contemplating that we, Ukrainians, have at all times regarded America for example of democracy and, most significantly, of values.”
Ukrainians could have been naïve, he added.
Nonetheless, many Ukrainians had been shaken by the general public falling-out in Washington, and Mr. Zelensky sought to reassure his war-weary nation on Saturday.
“Individuals in Ukraine have to know they aren’t alone, that their pursuits are represented in each nation and each nook of the world,” he mentioned in an announcement.
Leaders throughout Europe took to social media to voice support of Ukraine, and Mr. Zelensky supplied his private thanks for each assertion whereas reposting them.
However Mr. Zelensky did acknowledge that dropping U.S. army assist could be a devastating blow.
“It is going to be troublesome for us,” he instructed Fox Information after the White Home assembly. “That’s why I’m right here.”
Mr. Zelensky’s home standing seemed to be holding regular within the instant aftermath of the assembly, regardless of an announcement by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, calling for Mr. Zelensky to resign or be dismissed. “I don’t know if we will ever do enterprise” Mr. Graham mentioned, solely days after praising the Ukrainian chief as a really perfect ally.
Mr. Zelensky acquired a public sign of assist from the speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who would assume the presidency if Mr. Zelensky resigned. “Full assist for the President of Ukraine!” Mr. Stefanchuk wrote in a social media post.
Opposition figures additionally backed Mr. Zelensky.
“Although I don’t totally agree with President Zelensky’s insurance policies, I need to say that I’m genuinely grateful to him for withstanding this strain,” Natalia Pipa, a member of Parliament for the Holos get together, mentioned in an interview.
“Trump behaved disgustingly and condescendingly,” she added.
The trail forward for Ukraine, politicians and analysts mentioned, was to attempt to restore relations with the US, the place protection contractors are one constituency with an curiosity in persevering with American assist, whereas making an attempt to shore up European backing. Mr. Zelensky will even be making an attempt to get a job within the negotiations for a peace settlement, although Mr. Trump appears intent on dealing instantly with Mr. Putin.
However the anger directed at Mr. Zelensky within the Oval Workplace got here in opposition to a tense backdrop through which Mr. Trump has more and more aligned himself with the Kremlin in each phrases and actions.
Since Mr. Trump picked up the telephone on Feb. 12 for a 90-minute chat with Mr. Putin, he has referred to as Mr. Zelensky “a dictator”; falsely accused Ukraine of beginning the battle; and pressed the Ukrainian chief to accede to his administration’s demands, posting that he “higher transfer quick or he’s not going to have a Nation left.”
Final week, the State Division terminated an initiative that has invested a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to assist restore Ukraine’s vitality grid after assaults by the Russian army.
Whereas pressuring Kyiv, Mr. Trump has mentioned that he would “love” to see Russia again within the Group of seven — a gathering of the world’s wealthiest giant democracies — and that “it was a mistake to throw them out.”
He supplied Mr. Putin beneficiant concessions on NATO and Ukrainian territory even earlier than the talks began, and repeated the Kremlin’s requires elections in Ukraine.
The White Home has additionally lower funding for pro-democracy applications as a part of its efforts to dismantle U.S.A.I.D., a transfer celebrated by the Kremlin.
The Trump administration has additionally supplied public support for far-right parties in Europe recognized for his or her assist of Moscow, together with the AfD in Germany.
The U.S. lawyer normal, Pam Bondi, has additionally disbanded an F.B.I. task force centered on investigating international affect operations, and the secretary of protection, Pete Hegseth, has ordered that Russia be removed as a target of U.S. cybersecurity planning.
Washington additionally sided with Moscow in a vote on the United Nations that might have condemned Russian aggression on the third anniversary of the Ukraine invasion — breaking with allies to affix a small group of countries together with North Korea and Belarus.
Having endured years of loss and struggling, Ukrainians would love nothing greater than to see an finish to the battle, however not if the value is their freedom, Mr. Zelensky has been insisting.
Natalka Sosnytska, a program coordinator on the Behind Blue Eyes challenge, a Ukrainian group that helps youngsters with battle trauma, echoed that sentiment. “In fact, we would like peace, however solely after our victory,” she mentioned. “By standing his floor, Zelensky preserved our dignity as a nation.”
Liubov Sholudko and Yurii Shyvala contributed reporting.
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