Closing summary
We’re going to wrap up this live coverage now, it’s just after 11.30pm in Washington DC and 6.3oam in Kyiv. You can read the top lines on the extraordinary scenes at the White House in our full report here, and below is an overview of all the latest. Thanks for reading.
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US military support for Ukraine hangs in the balance and talks over a minerals deal have collapsed after a meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy descended into acrimony at the White House on Friday. The US president berated his Ukrainian counterpart and then abruptly called off the minerals deal that Trump had said would be the first step towards a ceasefire with Russia.
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Trump warned Zelenskyy he was “gambling with world war three” and told him to come back “when he is ready for peace”. A full transcript of the Oval Office clash can be read here. The meeting between Trump, vice-president JD Vance and Zelenskyy had been due to continue behind closed doors but was cut short after the open clash, with Zelenskyy leaving the White House early and a press conference to announce the minerals deal being cancelled.
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio called on Zelenskyy to apologise after the Trump meeting, while questioning whether the Ukrainian leader really wanted a peace deal, according to a CNN report. Zelenskyy should “apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became”, Rubio told the news outlet. “There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic.”
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Zelenskyy expressed regret that the Trump meeting became acrimonious but is insisting their relationship can be salvaged. The Ukrainian leader defended himself in an interview on Fox News while also agreeing the dispute was “not good for both sides”. Asked if he felt like he owed the US president an apology, as many of Trump’s Republican allies have also demanded, Zelenskyy did not directly answer, saying instead: “I think that we have to be very open and very honest. And I’m not sure that we did something bad.”
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The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine after the Oval Office meeting, according to a report. The decision, if taken, would apply to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority, the Washington Post reports, citing a senior US official.
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European leaders scrambled to stand by Ukraine in the wake of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting. Zelenskyy thanked leaders from Europe who are still shaken by Vance’s chastising speech to the Munich Security Conference in February. Among those who assured Zelenskyy of Europe’s support were the heads of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council head Antonio Costa. “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader,” said the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. German chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “Ukraine can rely on Germany – and on Europe.” French president Emmanuel Macron said: “Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the aggressed people.” A spokesperson for UK prime minister Keir Starmer said: “He retains his unwavering support for Ukraine.”
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Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, stood out in Europe for thanking Trump for having “stood bravely for peace”. Moscow reacted with glee to the Trump-Zelenskyy clash. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russia’s security council, said on Telegram: “A brutal dressing down in the Oval Office.”
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US Democratic lawmakers came to Zelenskyy’s defence in statements condemning Trump and Vance’s “shameful” and “disgraceful” treatment of the Ukrainian leader. But Trump’s Republican colleagues described the Oval Office exchange as evidence that the president was “putting America first”. US senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, who used to be one of the most outspoken advocates for supporting the Ukraine war effort, called on Zelenskyy to resign.
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A Russian drone strike on a medical facility and other targets in Kharkiv late on Friday injured at least five people, according to local officials. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said eight drones hit civilian areas in three central districts of Ukraine’s second largest city. More than 50 people were evacuated from the medical facility and emergency crews were bringing a fire triggered by the strike under control, he said. Dozens of buildings were damaged.
