Trump-Zelenskyy clash in White House LIVE updates: Zelenskyy leaves White House early after spat; Trump calls for immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.

Mr. Zelenskyy added that the contentious spat with President Donald Trump was “not good for both sides.”

But Mr. Zelenskyy said that Mr. Trump — who insists Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war — needs to understand that Ukraine can’t change attitudes toward Russia on a dime.

– AP

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believed Kyiv’s relationship with the United States could be salvaged, following a dramatic clash with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

“Of course” the relationship between the wartime allies can be fixed, Mr. Zelenskyy told Fox News, adding that he does not want to lose the United States as a partner — while saying he wants Trump to be “really more on our side.”

– AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to apologize for the extraordinary clash with President Donald Trump at the White House.

“I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad,” Mr. Zelenskyy said when asked by Fox News’s Brett Baier about apologizing to Mr. Trump.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an interview that it would be “difficult” for Ukraine to hold off invading Russian forces without American support.

“It will be difficult for us,” Mr. Zelenskyy said when asked by Fox News’ Brett Baier if Ukraine can win or hold off Moscow without Washington’s backing.

“That’s why I’m here. That’s why we speak about the future negotiations. It will be difficult without your support,” the Ukrainian leader said after White House talks with President Donald Trump earlier in the day broke down.

– AFP

Donald Trump wants ’immediate’ ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, warns Mr. Zelenskyy to make peace or lose U.S. support.

– AP

Ukraine’s fight against Russia is a defence of democracy that “matters to us all,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after a fiery row between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Russia illegally and unjustifiably invaded Ukraine. For three years now, Ukrainians have fought with courage and resilience. Their fight for democracy, freedom, and sovereignty is a fight that matters to us all,” Mr. Trudeau posted on X.

“Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine,” Mr. Trudeau added, after the extraordinary Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office confrontation.

– AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said visiting Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “overplayed his hand” Friday during their extraordinary Oval Office clash, and insisted “I want a ceasefire now.”

Mr. Trump, who spoke to reporters while departing the White House for his Florida estate, also said he wanted fighting in Ukraine to end “immediately” and accused Mr. Zelenskyy of opposing a truce.

– AFP

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed “unwavering support” for Ukraine and spoke to both U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their angry White House meeting.

“The Prime Minister has tonight spoken to both President Trump and President Zelenskyy. He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine,” said a spokeswoman for Mr. Starmer’s Downing Street office.

– AFP

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for a summit between the United States, Europe and their allies on Ukraine, following a clash between leaders Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“A summit without delay is needed between the United States, European states and their allies to talk frankly about how we intend to tackle today’s major challenges, starting with Ukraine, which together we have defended in recent years,” Ms. Meloni said in a statement.

– AFP

Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said his forces stood with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after a raised-voice spat with Donald Trump at the White House.

“The Armed Forces are with Ukraine, with the people, with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Our strength is in unity,” Mr. Syrsky, who rarely makes political statements, said on social media.

– AFP

Canada’s Foreign Minister defended Ukraine after a row broke out between U.S. President Donald Trump and his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, saying Ukrainians were fighting for their freedom and “ours.”

“We believe in supporting Ukraine. We think Ukrainians are fighting for their own freedoms, but they’re also fighting for ours,” Canada’s top diplomat Melanie Joly told reporters in Vancouver, adding that “Russians are noting” the Trump-Zelensky spat in the White House.

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Read the statement:

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EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa assured Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Europe’s unwavering support after his extraordinary clash with U.S. leader Donald Trump, telling him: “You are never alone”.

“Be strong, be brave, be fearless,” wrote the European commission and council presidents in a joint statement on social media, telling Mr. Zelenskyy: “We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.”

– AFP

Ukrainians reacted with shock and anger after an unprecedented verbal altercation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House.

Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said he supported Zelenskyy’s demand for U.S. security guarantees to back any peace deal, warning on X that “ceasefire without guarantees is the way to Russian occupation” of Europe.

Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov praised Zelenskyy’s “bravery” in “standing up for the honour of our people, who have paid with their blood for freedom.”

Foreign Ministry Andrii Sybiha said Zelenskyy “has the bravery and strength to stand up for what is right”.

A Ukrainian presidency source accused the U.S. leadership of “openly playing along with Russia”.

“We have great respect for the USA and love the citizens of the USA.

“But, unfortunately, our friends — the American people — have made a mistake in Trump,” the source said, adding that Ukraine would aim for “a new alliance with European countries”.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, the head of the Kyiv school of economics, said it is still possible the minerals deal that Zelensky had travelled to the United States to sign was still salvageable – as well as Kyiv’s relationship with Washington.

But the scenes from the Oval Office stunned him.

– AFP

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for standing “bravely for peace” following a heated dispute between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr. Trump at the White House.

“Strong men make peace, weak men make war. Today President @realDonaldTrump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!” Mr. Orban wrote in a post on X.

– AFP

The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas vowed to stand by Kyiv and questioned America’s leadership of the West Friday after an extraordinary clash between President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge,” Ms. Kallas wrote on social media following the Oval Office confrontation. “Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine.”

– AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would stand by war-torn Ukraine after its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s extraordinary Oval Office row.

“Ukraine, Spain stands with you,” Mr. Sanchez, a staunch backer of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion who pledged one billion euros of aid in a visit to Kyiv this week, wrote on X.

– AFP

Dutch support for Ukraine remained “undiminished” Prime Minister Dick Schoof said, as European Union leaders rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following his heated exchange with US counterpart Donald Trump.

“Dutch support for Ukraine remains undiminished. Especially now,” Mr. Schoof said on X, adding “we want lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression that Russia has started.”

– AFP

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said U.S. President Donald Trump showed “restraint” by not hitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their shouting match in the White House.

“I think Zelenskyy’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support,” she wrote on Telegram.

“How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint,” she said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, called Mr. Zelenskyy an “insolent **g” who had received “a proper slap down in the Oval Office”.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, called the heated confrontation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy “historic”.

Mr. Dmitriev was one of Moscow’s negotiators in the Russian-American talks held on February 18 in Saudi Arabia — the first since Russia began its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

– AFP

Germany’s Foreign Minister said Berlin and Europe were “united” behind Ukraine after an extraordinary row broke out between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Germany together with our European allies stands united alongside #Ukraine – and against the Russian aggression,” Annalena Baerbock wrote on X and Bluesky, adding that Kyiv’s “quest for peace & security is ours”.

– AFP

Volodymyr Zelenskyy posts a tweet on X thanking America for its support and the visit.

See the post:

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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk assured Ukrainians that they were “not alone” following a heated dispute between the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents at the White House.

In a post on X addressed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Tusk wrote “dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone”.

– AFP

The heated confrontation between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House was “historic”, according to a senior Russian official.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and one of Moscow’s negotiators in the Russian-American talks held on February 18 in Saudi Arabia, called it “historic” on X.

– AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron said if that if there was “an aggressor” in the Ukraine war, it was Russia.

His remarks followed a heated exchanged between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukraine counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“There is an aggressor which is Russia. There is an aggressed people which is Ukraine,” Mr. Macron told journalists during a state visit to Portugal. “I think we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so,” he added.

– AFP

Donald Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Vlodomyr Zelenskyy devolves into open antagonism Federal workers will get a new email demanding their accomplishments, with a key change Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance call Mr. Zelenskyy ‘disrespectful’ during heated Oval Office meeting.

– AP

Billionaire Elon Musk shared the full version of the spat video between Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy on X.

“Watch this carefully. Very important,” Mr. Musk wrote on X.

Watch the video here:

Senate Democrats accused U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin after they berated Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky in an extraordinarily tense White House meeting on Friday.

“Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work. Senate Democrats will never stop fighting for freedom and democracy,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media.

– AFP

Volodymyr Zelenskyy walked briskly to his armored vehicle and quickly climbed in, escorted by a protocol officer who saw him off.

A planned news conference and ceremony to sign a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal were cancelled.

– AP

A Statement from President Donald J. Trump

“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”