‘Free world needs new leader’: EU backs Ukraine after Trump berates Zelensky in Oval Office

European leaders threw their support behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a raised-voice spat on Friday with Donald Trump sent shockwaves across the world, casting doubts over efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

The US president openly berated Zelensky for not being “thankful,” and later accused the Ukrainian leader of “not being ready for peace” and having “disrespected” the United States in the “cherished Oval Office.” He also accused Zelensky of “gambling with millions of lives” and suggested his actions could trigger World War III.

In response, European Union chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa assured Zelensky that he was “never alone.”

“Be strong, be brave, be fearless,” wrote the European commission and council presidents in a joint statement on social media, telling Zelensky: “We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.”

The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas questioned the United States leadership of the transatlantic alliance between European powers and Washington.

“Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge,” she wrote on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russia was the “aggressor” in the Ukraine war.

“There is an aggressor which is Russia. There is an aggressed people which is Ukraine,” Macron told journalists, adding: “We were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so.”

He later went further to say that “if anyone is playing at World War III, it’s Vladimir Putin,” referring to Trump’s accusations against Zelensky.

Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz assured his support to Zelensky in a posting on X.

“We must never confuse the aggressor and the victim in this terrible war,” Merz said. The outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz also voiced support for Ukraine, as did Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who added that Kyiv’s “quest for peace & security is ours.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the closest partners of both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, thanked Trump for standing “bravely for peace.”

“Strong men make peace, weak men make war,” Orban wrote in a post on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for the United States, Europe and their allies to gather over the Ukraine war “without delay.”

“A summit without delay is needed… to talk frankly about how we intend to tackle today’s major challenges, starting with Ukraine, which together we have defended in recent years,” she said.

Staunch Kyiv ally Poland moved to reassure Ukrainians after the dispute.

“Dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X in a post addressed to Zelensky.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood with most European leaders to echo his support for Ukraine ahead of hosting Zelensky this weekend.

Starmer “is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said, adding he spoke to both leaders in the aftermath of the White House meeting.

Other Ukrainian allies rallied around the country, with Canada saying Kyiv was not only fighting for its freedom but also “ours.”

Denmark described its “pride” in supporting Ukraine while Sweden referred to Ukrainians as “friends.”

US Democrats: Trump ‘doing Putin’s work’

Senate Democrats accused Trump and his Vice President JD Vance of siding with Putin.

“Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work,” Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media.

GOP Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska bemoaned the meeting as “a bad day for America’s foreign policy.”

“Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” Bacon in an emailed statement.

Members of Trump’s cabinet and other Republican lawmakers however cheered on the president.

“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful and I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally who has previously been a staunch supporter of Ukraine.

“He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Russia: ‘cocaine clown’ Zelensky

Russia also cheered on Trump’s berating of Zelensky.

“For the first time, Trump told the truth to the cocaine clown’s face,” said former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, referring to Zelensky.

Kirill Dmitriev, one of Moscow’s negotiators in the first high-level talks between Russian and US officials since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, branded the spat between the two leaders as “historic.”