Zelensky gets a hero’s welcome in London ahead of emergency summit
By Rob Harris
London: British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer embraced Volodymyr Zelensky on the steps of Downing Street as European leaders rallied around the Ukrainian president after his explosive encounter with Donald Trump.
Starmer will host 14 European leaders in London on Sunday in a bid to marshal military and financial support for Ukraine, including providing help to secure peace with Russia. The British prime minister, who has already offered to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine after any ceasefire, reportedly hopes several other European nations will follow suit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Downing Street confirmed Starmer had spoken to both the US president and Zelensky by phone after Friday’s bust-up in the Oval Office and urged them to resume talks, including finalising a deal to allow the US to share Ukraine’s mineral wealth. Several UK media outlets reported Starmer would warn Zelensky and other European leaders at the summit that the road to peace in Ukraine must run through the White House, which would mean mending ties with Trump.
On Saturday afternoon (local time), Starmer gave a public show of support to Zelensky and told him he had the “full backing” of the UK. Zelensky was greeted by cheering from members of the public as he arrived in Downing Street.
“That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine, and our absolute determination to stand with you – unwavering determination – and to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace,” Starmer told Zelensky before the private talks.
“A lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine – so important for Ukraine, so important for Europe and so important for the United Kingdom.”
Zelensky and Starmer also signed a £2.26 billion ($4.6 billion) loan to Kyiv for military procurement, first announced in October, with the money coming from the profits on frozen Russian assets.
Zelensky’s reception in Downing Street was in marked contrast to his hostile encounter with Trump and US Vice President J.D. Vance the previous day in the White House. The Ukrainian president, who will also meet King Charles on Sunday, expressed optimism about the summit and said he was “very happy in the UK”.
“We’re happy and count on your support and really, really have [been] such partners,” he finished.
On Friday, Trump told Zelensky he was being “disrespectful” and “gambling with World War III”.
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social website after the meeting. “He can come back when he is ready for peace.”
Most European countries have since come out in support of Ukraine, breaking with Washington as differences grow in the trans-Atlantic alliance, built over the past 80 years.
French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke with both Zelensky and Trump following their confrontation at the White House, according to news agency Agence France-Presse. In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Macron called for a return to calm and respect, and emphasised the need to move forward, as the stakes were too high.
Starmer welcomes Zelensky to Dowing Street on Saturday afternoon.Credit: Getty Images
Downing Street is expecting attendees at Sunday’s summit to include Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Polish leader Donald Tusk, as well as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte.
Rutte told the BBC he had reminded Zelensky following the White House meeting that it was Trump who provided Javelin anti-tank weapons to Kyiv in 2019, which enabled the country to fight back against Russia.
“I said: I think you have to find a way, dear Volodymyr, to restore your relationship with Donald Trump and the American administration. That is important going forward.”
“Without the Javelins in 2022, when the full-scale attack started, Ukraine would have been nowhere. I told him we really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America did since then, and also what America is still doing.”
Zelensky’s meeting with US President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House on Friday.Credit: Bloomberg
Meloni on Saturday called for an “immediate” summit between the US, the European Union and other Western allies to discuss the war in Ukraine.
She said it was necessary to “talk frankly about how we intend to deal with the great challenges of today, starting with Ukraine, which together we have defended in recent years, and those that we will be called upon to face in the future”.
“Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favours those who would like to see the decline of our civilisation.”
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