Zelensky Jets Off to Britain Early After Oval Office Smackdown From Trump and Vance

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky departed from the United States for Britain on Saturday, landing in London ahead of talks with European leaders earlier than expected after a dressing down in the Oval Office by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Following a sensational White House meeting on Friday, which devolved into a public sparring match, with the Ukrainian leader being accused of acting “disrespectful” to President Trump and the American people, Zelesnky quickly jetted off to the United Kingdom in the early hours of Saturday morning ahead of Downing Street talks with European allies. He is expected to meet with UK Prime Minister Starmer later today.

Zelensky, who was ejected from the White House by President Trump, who said that he could return when he was “ready for peace”, left the United States without signing the planned agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on mineral rights aimed at recouping some of the investment the American taxpayer has made to prop up the country’s war efforts following the 2022 Russian invasion.

In an apparent attempt to ease tensions with the Trump administration as he landed down in London — reportedly earlier than expected, according to Britain’s Mirror newspaper — Zelensky wrote on X: “We are very grateful to the United States for all the support. I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people. Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion.”

“America’s help has been vital in helping us survive, and I want to acknowledge that. Despite the tough dialogue, we remain strategic partners. But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals,” he added.

Zelensky said that it remains “crucial” for Kyiv to have President Trump’s support and that he still wants to sign the minerals deal but maintained that further security guarantees would be necessary for a “lasting peace”, reiterating the demands he made in the Oval Office on Friday.

The Ukrainian leader will meet with European leaders in London on Sunday in talks hosted by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer intended to build off a meeting in Paris last month that failed to result in a coherent strategy for European powers in the aftermath of a potential peace deal.

Many European leaders, like Democrats and the legacy media in the United States, appeared to take the side of the Ukrainian leader in the wake of the heated meeting with President Trump.

However, Zelensky was criticised by key Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, one of Kyiv’s most ardent supporters in the party. On Saturday, Graham said, “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful…I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelenskyy again…He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Despite their claims of unwavering support, there remain deep divides among leaders on the issue of potentially committing a pan-European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, with major powers such as Germany, Italy, and Poland so far refusing to commit their soldiers.

Berlin and London have demanded that such a peacekeeping force be backed up by a security guarantee from the United States military; however, the Trump administration has reportedly rejected such calls. Washington has suggested that the minerals deal with Ukraine could act as a de facto security guarantee, arguing that Russia would be hesitant to anger the United States by jeopardising its economic interests in the region.

Yet this appears to not be enough for Zelensky, who said Saturday: “The deal on minerals is just a first step toward security guarantees and getting closer to peace. Our situation is tough, but we can’t just stop fighting and not having guarantees that Putin will not return tomorrow.”

Questions also remain about Europe’s military capability to actually enforce a peace in Ukraine, with many countries having long failed to invest in their defence in favour of their lavish welfare programmes while relying on the might of the United States and the commitments from the American taxpayer to protect the continent.

Former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky highlighted the need for Europe to demonstrate to the United States that it is “pulling its weight” regarding NATO defence spending.

“From Europe’s point of view, there is an even bigger priority than the future of Ukraine, which is the future of Nato. And there is a simple message from what happened yesterday and that is that we can’t take that for granted,” Hunt said per the Daily Mail.

‘The 2.5 per cent of GDP increase in defence spending this week is extremely welcome from Keir Starmer, but it won’t be enough, and we need all European Nato countries to be spending much closer to the 3.4 per cent of GDP that America is spending before America feels that Europe is pulling its weight.”

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