British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, February 28, and told him he had the nation’s unwavering support a day after the blowout at the White House with President Donald Trump.
Zelensky arrived to shouts of support from people who had gathered outside of 10 Downing St., where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside. The two leaders met on the eve of a meeting of European leaders in London. Called to discuss how European nations can defend Ukraine – and themselves – if the US withdraws support, it has taken on new urgency following Trump’s televised berating of Zelensky.
“And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer told the leader of the war-torn country. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”
Zelensky thanked him and the people of the UK for their support and friendship. Starmer spoke to both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday evening after the meeting, the prime minister’s office said.
The meeting comes the day after an extraordinary diplomatic meltdown when Trump and Vice President JD Vance blasted Zelensky in the Oval Office on live television for not being grateful enough for US support. Trump accused Zelensky of not being “thankful” for US military aid, later writing that the Ukrainian president had “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”
Zelensky had planned to sign a long-awaited minerals-sharing deal with Washington on the visit, but Trump officials ordered him to leave after the confrontation, US media reported.
Zelensky had been scheduled to meet with Starmer on Sunday before the European summit, but the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit. Zelensky will also meet with King Charles III on Sunday before the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
‘New age of infamy’
Friday’s argument between Trump and Zelensky sent alarm bells ringing across Europe, with Germany branding it the start of a “new age of infamy,” while Russia reacted gleefully to the US President’s apparent takedown of Zelensky, Ukraine’s leader throughout Moscow’s more than three-year-long invasion.
European leaders rallied to Zelensky’s defense. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying Ukraine was “not alone” and Starmer vowing “unwavering support” for Kyiv. Others pressed for an olive branch. In an interview with the BBC, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that he talked to Zelensky and told him he had to “find a way” to restore his relationship with Trump after the row.
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Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky’s political rival and predecessor, also appeared to defend Zelensky in a post on Facebook. “Some people expected me to criticize Zelensky. But no, there will be no criticism, because this is not what the country needs now,” he said. But he added: “We really hope that President Zelensky has a Plan B.”
Though he refused to apologize, the day after Zelensky indicated that he was still open to signing the deal on Ukraine’s mineral wealth coveted by Trump, insisting that “despite the tough dialogue” Ukraine and the United States “remain strategic partners.”
“But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.
