European allies rally behind Zelensky after White House row

Ukraine's European allies, set to gather in London on Sunday, rallied behind President Volodymyr Zelensky 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 Zelensky 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 Zelensky, and vowed "unwavering support" for Kyiv.

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

Starmer and Zelensky 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.

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 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 Zelensky, 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".

Zelensky 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 Zelensky an "insolent pig" who had received "a proper slap down."

Zelensky'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.

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Agence France-Presse