Albanese backs Ukraine after Trump’s catastrophic meeting with Zelensky

Washington: Ukraine will turn to Europe for support after an extraordinary, heated argument between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office that has thrown American military aid into doubt and left a purported peace deal under a cloud.

World leaders rallied behind Zelensky in the hours after the confrontation, which ended with the Ukrainian leader being forced to leave the White House early, the cancellation of a lunch and planned joint press conference with Trump, and a deal to share in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals left unsigned.

From left: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday.Credit: Bloomberg

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer professed his “unwavering support for Ukraine” and will host Zelensky and other European leaders at a defence summit in London on Sunday, focused on Ukraine. Following the catastrophic meeting in Washington, the London summit was reportedly expanded to include more European nations and Canada’s Justin Trudeau.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes, because this is the struggle of a democratic nation versus an authoritarian regime led by Vladimir Putin, who clearly has imperialistic designs, not just on Ukraine, but throughout that region”.

At the White House meeting, Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, repeatedly accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” of the US and insufficiently grateful for America’s support, while Zelensky called out some of Trump’s false claims and became angered when Vance said it was time to deal diplomatically with Vladimir Putin.

As the animosity intensified, the men spoke over each other often, and at times raised their voices. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, cradled her head in her hands as the meeting went off the rails.

After the confrontation, Trump said he had determined that Zelensky “is not ready for peace if America is involved because he feels our involvement gifted him a big advantage in negotiations”.

“I don’t want advantage, I want peace,” Trump said. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace.”

Trump later told reporters, shortly before departing for his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida for the weekend, that he wanted an “immediate ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, but he expressed doubt that Zelensky was ready to make peace.

Later on Friday, Zelensky sat for an interview with Fox News and said his public spat with Trump and Vance was “not good for both sides”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

But he said Trump – who insists that Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war – needs to understand Ukraine can’t easily change its attitudes towards Russia, and that Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.

“It’s so sensitive for our people,” Zelensky said. “And they just want to hear that America [is] on our side, that America will stay with us. Not with Russia, with us. That’s it.”

In the lengthy and angry confrontation in the Oval Office, Trump and Vance berated Zelensky, calling him disrespectful and telling him to be grateful for America’s help.

“You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump said. “And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country – this country – that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should. You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it is going to be pretty.”

US President Donald Trump welcoming Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.Credit: AP

The clash began when a reporter asked whether Trump was aligned too closely with Putin. Trump said he was not aligned with anybody, but a deal to end the war wouldn’t happen if he didn’t talk to Putin. Vance then added that “thumping our chest” had failed, and it was time to try diplomacy.

Zelensky pointed out that Putin had repeatedly violated previous ceasefire agreements, and queried how the US could engage diplomatically with him.

Vance responded: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media … you should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”

Zelensky, with his arms folded, challenged Vance on whether he had been to Ukraine to observe the situation first-hand. Vance then accused Zelensky of bringing people on “propaganda tours” of Ukraine.

Shortly afterwards, as Zelensky was trying to make a point, Trump spoke over the top of him, saying: “No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.”

A frustrated Zelensky said he knew the country was in trouble but protested that Ukraine had been alone since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of 2022.

“You haven’t been alone,” Trump replied. “If you didn’t have our military equipment this war would have been over in two weeks.”

Zelensky said the US may yet come to feel the effects of the war despite being across the Atlantic from Europe. “You don’t know that,” Trump said. “Don’t tell us what we’re gonna feel. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re gonna feel.”

The meeting then deteriorated, with the two men speaking over each other. “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said.

The two parties later retreated to holding rooms. US media cited White House sources who said Zelensky was informed that the meeting was over and was asked to leave the White House by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, despite the Ukrainians seeking to “reset” following the dispute.

The White House and members of Trump’s cabinet quickly embraced the catastrophic meeting and collapse of relations, pushing Trump’s statement out on social media along with video clips of the Oval Office argument. “President Trump and Vice President Vance are standing up for the American people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Rubio posted on X: “Thank you @POTUS for standing up for America in a way that no president has ever had the courage to do before. Thank you for putting America First. America is with you!”

Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Ukraine advocate, said he was proud of Trump for “showing the American people and the world you don’t trifle with this man”.

“He wants to end the war, and Zelensky felt like he needed to bait Trump in the Oval Office,” he told Fox News.

Veteran Democrat and former speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s behaviour “shameful” and said Putin would be overjoyed.

“Following the US vote in alignment with Russia at the United Nations this week, a disturbing pattern has emerged that is contrary to America’s longstanding support of democracy around the world.”

Zelensky, upon departing the White House grounds, made no mention of the altercation in a short post thanking America for the visit.

“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Zelensky, who gained billions of dollars’ worth of US weaponry and moral support from the Biden administration for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, is facing a sharply different attitude from Trump. Trump wants to quickly wind down the three-year war, improve ties with Russia and recoup money spent to support Ukraine.

Trump has adopted a much less committed stance towards European security than his predecessor, Joe Biden, a change in tone that has sent shockwaves across Europe and stoked fears in Kyiv and among its allies that it could be forced into a peace deal that favours Russia.

After Zelensky left the White House, Macron pointed out in a post on social media platform X that Russia was the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine, and Ukraine was the victim.

“We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so ... Thank you to all who have helped and continue to do so. And respect to those who have been fighting since the beginning – because they are fighting for their dignity, their independence, their children, and the security of Europe.”

No security guarantees in proposed deal

An agreement negotiated in recent days between the US and Ukraine – but which has not yet been signed and is now under threat – would have opened Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the United States but did not include explicit American security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump said the presence of Americans in business would serve as a form of guarantee.

How much any deal would be worth to the United States was not spelled out. Trump has said he expects to gain hundreds of billions of dollars. Zelensky has said he would not sign an agreement that would put his country in debt for generations.

Ukraine would be expected to contribute 50 per cent of “all revenues earned from the future monetisation of all relevant Ukrainian government-owned natural resource assets” to a reconstruction fund jointly owned and managed by the United States and Ukraine.

The agreement did not specify how any funds would be spent, or identify specific assets it might cover, though it said they would include deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas as well as infrastructure such as gas terminals and ports.

Ukraine has rapidly expanded its defence industry production but remains heavily reliant on foreign military assistance, while also struggling to replenish manpower as it battles a much larger foe.

While Ukraine repelled Russia’s invasion from the outskirts of Kyiv and recaptured swaths of territory in 2022, Russia still controls about a fifth of Ukraine and has been taking ground since a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023. Kyiv’s troops hold a chunk of land in Russia’s western Kursk region after a 2024 incursion.

Even before the explosive meeting, Trump had engaged in a long-distance feud with Zelensky, criticising his handling of the war and calling him a dictator.

with Reuters, AP

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