After US fiasco, Zelenskyy gets a hug from Starmer, advice from NATO chief
Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived to shouts of support from people who had gathered outside 10 Downing St, where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside
A day after the blowout at the White House with President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday (March 1) embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and told him he had the nation’s unwavering support.
Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived to shouts of support from people who had gathered outside 10 Downing St, where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside. The two leaders met on the eve of a meeting of European leaders in London.
“Full backing” from UK
Called to discuss how European nations can defend Ukraine — and themselves — if the US withdraws support, it has taken on new urgency following Trump’s televised berating of Zelenskyy.
“And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer told the leader of the war-torn country. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”
Also read: White House public spat pushes Ukraine peace further away
Zelenskyy thanked him and the people of the UK for their support and friendship. Starmer spoke to both Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday evening after the meeting, the prime minister’s office said.
NATO chief’s advice
The meeting comes the day after an extraordinary diplomatic meltdown when Trump and Vice-President JD Vance blasted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on live television for not being grateful enough for US support.
Speaking on the incident, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the BBC on Saturday that he told Zelenskyy he had to “find a way to restore his relationship with the American president” and that “he really had to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine”.
He was referring to the first Trump administration’s decision in 2019 to supply Ukraine with Javelin antitank missiles that Ukraine used to deadly effect against Russian tanks in the first wave of the 2022 invasion.
Also read: Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy script an epochal moment in global politics, diplomacy
An “unfortunate” meeting
Calling the Friday meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy “unfortunate,” Rutte said he “knew as a fact that the American administration is extremely invested in making sure that Ukraine gets to a durable peace” with Russia.
Zelenskyy had been poised to ink a deal to give the US access to mineral riches as Trump pressures Ukraine to reach a deal to end the war with Russia. But he left town without signing anything.
European summit
Zelenskyy had been scheduled to meet with Starmer on Sunday before the European summit, but the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit.
Zelenskyy will meet with King Charles III on Sunday before the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Rutte said he expected European leaders, who were meeting in London on Sunday, to help secure a future peace deal by providing Ukraine with security guarantees.
(With agency inputs)