A shock-stricken US-Ukrainian relationship was shattered by a news conference on Friday between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump’s already fragile relationship with Russia.
The leaders of the two countries clashed over differences in how to end the three-year conflict, with the Ukrainian president requesting security guarantees from a Trump administration that aligns with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s point of view.
Zelenskyy’s supporters in Ukraine rallied, many of whom had been weakened by three years of conflict, but they also expressed concern about the future of US support for Kyiv’s war effort as larger, better-equipped Russian forces marched across large areas of the east.
Without the American assistance, I doubt that we would survive. They have provided us with a lot of money and weapons. Liudmyla Stetsevych, a 47-year-old Kyiv resident, told the Reuters news agency, “Europe might be able to help us.”
Trump and Putin are dividing the world, according to me. I’m not sure what will happen to it,” she said.
Ukrainians also expressed hope that if the US reduced its own political and military support, Ukraine’s allies in Europe would increase it.
Many European nations expressed their support for Ukraine, and we hope that they will step up and give Ukraine more aid, particularly military equipment and ammunition, according to Kyiv-based Alina Zhaivoronko.
According to the Institute for the War Study, the United Kingdom, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have surpassed the US in terms of cumulative direct military and non-military aid to Ukraine.
The US still provides Ukrainian troops with crucial air defense equipment and much-needed intelligence. Without Washington’s assistance, the chances for Ukraine’s war effort are bleak, many Kyiv residents worry.
The US is “very grateful,” according to Zaivoronko, for the assistance Ukraine has received from both now and in the future. However, our honor and dignity should be above all else.
We were in a cold shower, so it was an unpleasant shock. It was a discussion format that was not very common. However, this has two sides. President Zelenskyy should have adhered to the rules and standards diplomatically. It was a provocation, she continued, but on the other end.
Because Zelenskyy fought like a lion, retired Kyiv resident Nataliia Serhiienko said she believes Ukrainians are happy with their president’s performance in Washington.
She told The Associated Press, “They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation. Zelenskyy, however, “was defending Ukraine’s interests.”
Zelenskyy repeatedly argued at his meeting with Trump that any US-US deal must contain concrete security guarantees for Ukraine in the event that Putin violates a ceasefire. The Ukrainian president has previously claimed that Moscow broke truce agreements 25 times, including once under Trump’s first term.
However, Zelenskyy abruptly left the White House without agreeing to a highly regarded minerals deal following the altercation in front of the cameras. Later, he later said he regrets the public outcry and wished Trump had been more sympathetic to Ukraine.
Ella Kazantseva, 54, told Reuters in front of a crowd of flags in central Kyiv to honor the Ukrainians who died in the war. “The Americans don’t know the real situation, what’s going on here,” she said.
Source: Aljazeera
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