Ukraine latest: Zelensky says Trump’s support ‘crucial’ after clash

Former security minister Tom Tugendhat said it was “impossible not to feel sympathy for Zelensky” after his clash with Donald Trump at the White House that have left peace deal talks in tatters.

He told Times Radio: “There’s a guy whose country is at war. He’s losing quite literally hundreds of people from his fellow citizens every week. There are hospitals being hit. There are homes being hit.

“There are kids being killed. I mean, it’s a really grim situation.”Referencing Mr Trump’s claims that Kyiv had been ungrateful for US support.

Mr Tugendhat added: “He said very publicly on many occasions, thank you for all the support he’s got. Thank you to America. Thank you to Europe and all the rest of it. But he’s understandably frustrated.”

Former Cabinet minister Tom Tugendhat has said “we’ve gone from politics as service to the country to politics as entertainment”, in response to Friday’s evening’s fiery clash in the Oval Office between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

It comes after the US president said the row would make “great television”.

Asked his thoughts on the clash, Mr Tugendhat told Times Radio: “I was probably as astonished as everybody else. I mean, it was quite the most extraordinary thing I’ve seen in a very long time. And it just, it almost reminded you that we’ve gone from politics as service to the country to politics as entertainment.”

Nigel Farage has dubbed Friday’s Oval Office clash “regrettable”, stopping short of criticising Donald Trump.

The Reform UK leader and Trump-ally warned that the row, which saw the US president claim Volodymyr Zelensky is not “ready for peace”, will “make Putin feel like the winner”.

Posting to social media, he added: “This is not the end of the story, far from it. A peace deal is essential and Ukraine needs the right security guarantees.”

Donald Trump “needs to sort out this mess as much as Zelensky”, Sir Malcolm Rifkind has told The Independent, warning that the US president “cannot deliver a deal unless Zelensky agrees”.

Backing Sir Keir Starmer’s approach to the situation so far, Sir Malcolm – who has previously served as both defence secretary and foreign secretary – said European leaders should help to mediate between the Ukrainian and US presidents.

It comes as No 10 gears up to host Mr Zelensky and other European leaders in Downing Street on Sunday.

“Trump needs to sort out this mess as much as Zelensky. Otherwise the Trump-Putin negotiations on Ukraine will never begin”, Sir Malcolm said.

“Trump cannot deliver a deal unless Zelensky agrees. Zelensky has said he wants to restore relations with Trump. In the next week a formula acceptable to them both should be sorted out – privately. That is where the Europeans can help mediate”, he added.

A Russian drone attack on the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight has damaged a hospital and injured seven people, officials have said.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said nine Russian drones had attacked civilian areas in three central districts of the city, a frequent target of Russian attacks in the three-year-old war.

Seven people were injured, he said, and more than 50 people were evacuated from the medical facility as emergency crews brought under control a fire triggered by the strike.

Dozens of buildings were damaged, Syniehubov added, with windows shattered in an apartment building, a car dealership and a hypermarket.

“World leaders speak of peace, but Russia’s actions make its intentions clear,” Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, wrote on X after the strike. “It does not negotiate; it destroys.”

Sir Keir Starmer will host Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street for a meeting this afternoon, a No 10 spokeswoman said.

The Ukrainian president touched down in London this afternoon ahead of a meeting with other European leaders in London on Sunday, where they will thrash out a response to Mr Zelensky’s explosive meeting with Donald Trump on Friday.

Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated that Ukraine wants a peace deal but said that Ukraine must be “strong at the negotiation table” in order to get there.

It comes after Mr Zelensky and Donald Trump had an extraordinary clash in the Oval Office on Friday evening, which saw the US president accuse Ukraine of not being ready for peace.

“We want peace. That’s why I came to the United States, and visited President Trump”, the Ukrainian president said.

“The deal on minerals is just a first step toward security guarantees and getting closer to peace. Our situation is tough, but we can’t just stop fighting and not having guarantees that Putin will not return tomorrow”, he posted to social media.

He also warned that he “cannot change Ukraine’s position on Russia”.

“The Russians are killing us. Russia is the enemy, and that’s the reality we face. Ukraine wants peace, but it must be a just and lasting peace. For that, we need to be strong at the negotiation table. Peace can only come when we know we have security guarantees, when our army is strong, and our partners are with us”, he said.

His comments come after he landed in the UK ahead of a summit with EU leaders tomorrow.

Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a statement saying Ukraine is “very grateful to the United States for all the support”, after the US president accused him of being ungrateful for US backing.

“I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people. Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion”, the Ukrainian president posted on social media.

“America’s help has been vital in helping us survive, and I want to acknowledge that. Despite the tough dialogue, we remain strategic partners. But we need to be honest and direct with each other to truly understand our shared goals.

“It’s crucial for us to have President Trump’s support. He wants to end the war, but no one wants peace more than we do. We are the ones living this war in Ukraine. It’s a fight for our freedom, for our very survival.”

Ukraine has been left “very exposed” by the White House clash between Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump last night, a former British defence attache has said, but Sir Keir Starmer could provide the necessary calm to de-escalate the situation.

John Foreman, the British defence attache in Moscow from 2019 to 2022 and, before that, in Kyiv, tells The Independent that Ukraine has been on a “rollercoaster” this week that has ended in “despair”. But, he adds, it may be “salvageable”.

“Ukraine has been on a roller coaster this week from cautious optimism after the visit of Macron/Starmer [to the US] and the likely minerals deal (which would have ensured a lasting US stake in the country) to today’s despair,” he says.

“Yesterday’s eruption, and the vehemence of some of the US rhetoric, leaves Ukraine very exposed, especially if Trump follows through and pulls the plug on arms, blaming Zelensky for not being serious about a ‘peace deal’ which in any event is illusory and a result of Trump overpromising.

“That said, it was only last week that Trump called Zelensky a dictator and Zelensky said that Trump lived in a disinformation bubble. So things may be salvageable after a period of calm.”

He also applauded Sir Keir for speaking to both Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump yesterday after their fiery clash. Mr Foreman says this shows he did “not lose his head … while European leaders have claimed the sky is falling in”.

“His general calmness may actually help here,” he says, while adding that a meeting of European leaders and Mr Zelensky in London on Sunday, hosted by Sir Keir, has taken on a renewed sense of importance.