Several world leaders came out in support of Ukraine after a dramatic clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at a White House meeting on Friday (February 28), Reuters reports.
“We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so. By we, I mean the Americans, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese, and many others,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on social media website, X. In their own posts on the platform, leaders from countries such as Canada, Latvia, and Denmark said they stood with Ukraine.
Zelenskiy had seen the meeting in the Oval Office as an opportunity to convince the United States not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Instead, Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance laid into Zelenskiy, saying he showed disrespect, driving relations with Kyiv's most important wartime ally to a new low.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday (March 1) weighed in on the Trump-Zelenskiy clash, saying Canberra would continue to stand with Ukraine.
"We stand unequivocally with Ukraine in their struggle, because we regard that as a struggle for the upholding of international law," Albanese told reporters in Sydney.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump ended in disaster on Friday (February 28), after the two leaders engaged in an extraordinary shouting match before the world’s media at the White House over the war with Russia.
Trump has sided with Putin since taking over as president, shocking his traditional allies in Europe and beyond and leaving Ukraine increasingly vulnerable. Friday's outburst was the most public display of that shift to date.
