Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the American people and leadership and voiced hope for “strong relations”.
His comments come a day after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with US President Donald Trump that left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.
In a series of posts on X on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are “very grateful to the United States for all the support,” and specifically thanked Trump and Congress alongside the “American people”.
“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: It’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. … American people helped save our people,” he said.
“We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them,” he added.
Zelenskyy arrived in London on Saturday, for a summit organised by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with other European leaders.
The summit on Sunday will also include leaders from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.
The shouting match that unfolded on Friday in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson described Friday’s Oval Office blowout between Trump and Zelenskyy as a “complete political and diplomatic failure” for Kyiv.
In a statement on Saturday, Maria Zakharova also slammed the “political weakness and extreme moral degradation” of European leaders who continue to support Ukraine and its president.
Zakharova said Russia’s war aims remain unchanged, implying Moscow will insist on a demilitarised Ukraine barred from NATO, and on annexing Ukrainian territories it controls.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticised Trump in unusually sharp terms for his behaviour during the meeting with Zelenskyy at the Oval Office.
“Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the whole world,” Steinmeier told dpa, the German news agency, during a flight to Uruguay.
“The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.”
French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to Friday’s heated exchange between US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, during which Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War III”.
Macron said if someone is gambling with World War III, it is not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but more likely his Russian counterpart.
“If anyone is gambling with World War III, his name is Vladimir Putin,” Macron told Portugal’s RTP news channel during a visit to Lisbon ahead of Sunday’s Ukraine summit of European leaders in London.
Macron said he still hopes that the United States will remain committed to the defence of democracy.
“My hope is that the United States of America will continue to stand by its history and its principles,” he said.
“Whenever we have had major conflicts, the United States of America has been on the right side of history and freedom.”
