Donald Trump is facing a furious backlash and accusations of bullying and thuggery from UK politicians after an extraordinary shouting match with Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
While Downing Street remained silent, senior Conservative MPs, including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, were among those to leap to the Ukrainian leader’s defence after Trump accused Kyiv of “gambling with World War Three”.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said Winston Churchill, whose bust sits in the Oval Office, would be “turning in his grave if he saw that happen”.
“I’m sickened by that degrading spectacle,” Mr Jenrick said in a post on social media platform X.
“Ukraine’s people, led by President Zelenskyy, have fought bravely to hold off Putin over the last three years with US and European support. Zelenskyy has shown sincere gratitude for the support offered by his partners. We salute him and the courageous Ukrainians as they fight for freedom against Russian imperialism.”
In an apparent rebuke to the US president, the senior opposition MP said countries’ leaders could disagree, “but the West must show a united front to our enemies.”
In a more conciliatory tone towards Trump, Ms Badenoch warned that it was important to remember the “villain is the war criminal President Putin who illegally invaded another sovereign country – Ukraine”.
She said now was the time for more cooperation, not less. “Any peace agreement must be negotiated with Ukraine at the table, and will need security guarantees. We cannot lose sight of the fact that tonight air raid sirens are sounding in Ukraine,” she said.
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said Mr Zelensky had “led Ukraine through its darkest hour.”
“His leadership, coupled with the remarkable courage of the Ukrainian people, have inspired us all and crucially held back Russia’s illegal invasion,” she said on X.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey condemned what he said was “thuggery from Trump and Vance, plain and simple.”
“They are bullying the brave true patriot Zelensky into accepting a deal which effectively hands victory to Russia. Unless the UK and Europe step up, we are facing a betrayal of Ukraine,” he said.
”The row will increase pressure on Keir Starmer, who has argued he can be a bridge between the US and Europe over Ukraine.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also called on Sir Keir to withdraw the offer of a state visit made to Mr Trump during his visit to the White House on Thursday.
Tory MP and former foreign secretary James Cleverly urged the UK to increase its support to Ukraine in light of “reports that the USA is pulling support to Ukraine”.
“American isolationism has never worked,” he posted on X.
As they reel from the latest Trump intervention, Keir Starmer is due to host Mr Zelensky and EU leaders in London on Sunday as they attempt to plot a way forward.
The breakdown of talks between Kyiv and the White House will add pressure to Western leaders to step in and fill the void in providing security guarantees for Ukraine as the US and Russia broker an agreement to end the war in discussions that have so far excluded Ukraine.
