European allies rally behind Ukraine after White House row

LONDON: Ukraine's European allies, set to gather in London on Sunday (Mar 2), rallied behind President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Donald Trump threw him out of the White House and accused him of not being "ready" for peace with Russia.

Stunned by Friday's altercation in the Oval Office, which saw Zelenskyy depart the White House without signing an expected mineral deal, European leaders rushed to his defence.

"You are not alone," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, fresh off his own visit to the White House, said he had spoken to both Trump and Zelenskyy, and vowed "unwavering support" for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy wrote "thank you for your support" in individual replies on social media platform X to around 30 messages from European leaders.

Starmer and Zelenskyy will meet in London on Saturday afternoon ahead of Sunday's summit, the prime minister's office said.

On Sunday, representatives from more than a dozen European countries will convene in the British capital to focus on shoring up support for "securing a just and enduring peace" in Ukraine, according to Downing Street.

The gathering will also address the need for Europe to increase defence cooperation amid fears over whether the United States will continue to support NATO.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to "open the discussion" on a possible future European nuclear deterrent, following a request from Germany's next leader, Friedrich Merz.

Merz has stressed the need for the continent to move quickly to "achieve independence" from the United States on defence matters.

Turkey, also invited, will be represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who spoke by phone on Saturday with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, about the Ukraine war, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

Turkey, which hosted negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, is ready to reprise the role, but remains committed to "Ukraine's territorial integrity", the source said.

SHOUTING MATCH

Trump stunned many in Europe when he reached out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a deal on Ukraine, which Moscow invaded three years ago.

Trump's sudden shift on Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and Europe while pursuing rapprochement with Putin, has rattled the transatlantic alliance.

Those concerns were only exacerbated on Friday by the scene that played out in the White House, where the years-long US policy of massive support for Ukraine collapsed in a shouting match.

During the clash, in front of US and international media, Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelenskyy, accusing him of not being "thankful" and refusing to accept their proposed truce terms.

"You don't have the cards right now," Trump said. "You're either going to make a deal or we're out, and if we're out, you'll fight it out and I don't think it's going to be pretty".

Zelenskyy departed shortly after, with Trump posting on social media that "he can come back when he is ready for peace".

US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials.

Zelensky refused to apologise, telling Fox News, "I'm not sure that we did something bad". He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters.

Russia was meanwhile delighted.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called Zelenskyy an "insolent pig" who had received "a proper slap down".

Zelenskyy's Washington trip was a "complete failure", Moscow said.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Zelensky "obsessed" with prolonging the war and said Moscow's goals remained the "demilitarisation" of Ukraine and annexation of all territories currently occupied by Russia.

NO COMPROMISES

The meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine would have to make "compromises" in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of the country.

Zelenskyy said there should be "no compromises with a killer on our territory".

The session then boiled over into Trump and Vance loudly berating the Ukrainian leader, who sat in evident discomfort as his hosts talked over him.

Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelenskyy and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion.

He said in the Oval Office that he had "spoken on numerous occasions" to Putin -- more than has been publicly reported.

When asked by Fox News if the relationship with Trump could be salvaged, Zelenskyy said "of course".

But he also said he wished Trump was "really more on our side".

Meanwhile, Russia's assault on Ukraine continued.

Russian infantry were storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.

Moscow said on Saturday it had seized two more villages in the south of the eastern Donetsk region.