During the meeting, Trump became upset when Zelenskyy tried to reply, accusing him of risking triggering a global conflict, stating he was “playing with World War III.”
Both leaders eventually agreed to expedite loans totaling US$2.8 billion ($4.5bn) to Ukraine, intending to repay them using Russian assets that are currently frozen.
Zelenskyy announced that the loan funds would be allocated towards bolstering Ukraine’s weapon production capabilities and confirmed discussions with Starmer on ensuring dependable security assurances.
Zelenskyy also announced that King Charles had accepted an invitation to meet on Sunday.
Zelenskyy’s UK trip comes ahead of a summit of European leaders on Sunday, which was announced amid growing concern that the Trump administration’s push to work with Russia could exclude Ukraine from deciding its own fate.
Just last week, Trump wrongly accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and called Zelenskyy a “dictator”.
The week before, he said that Ukraine “may be Russian someday” when discussing what has now become the minerals agreement.
Russian officials reacted with glee to Friday’s fractious meeting. Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, said Zelenskyy had “finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office”.
Meanwhile, a flurry of Western countries took to X to show their staunch support for Kyiv.
A joint statement by the leaders of the European Union, said that Zelenskyy’s “dignity honours the bravery of the Ukrainian people.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte called the fractious Zelensky-Trump meeting “very unfortunate.” In an interview with BBC News, Rutte added that “it is important that President Zelenskyy finds a way to restore his relationship with the American president and with the senior American leadership team.”
