Donald Trump lectures Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, Washington D.C., February 28, 2025 (CNN)

EA-ATP Geopolitics VideoCast: Trump’s Demolition of Security for Ukraine, Europe, and US

EA on BBC and Al Arabiya: The UK, Trump, and Ukraine

Friday’s Coverage: UK’s Starmer Flatters Trump — Will It Save US Aid for Kyiv?

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1622 GMT:

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has appeased Donald Trump in the hope that US support for Ukraine’s security can still be obtained.

Rutte said, “I have been twice on the phone now with [Ukraine] President Zelensky. I told him this, we need to stick together, the United States, Ukraine, and Europe to bring Ukraine to a durable peace.”

Referring to the Javelin anti-tank system whose delivery was assured by the US Congress in 2017, during Trump’s first term, Rutte continued:

What I clearly told him is that we really have to respect what President Trump has done so far for Ukraine….

We really have to give Trump credit for what he did then, what America did since then, and also what America is still doing.

The NATO head insisted:

I’m absolutely convinced that the US wants to bring Ukraine to this durable peace. It was what all the administration senior people have told in the past my discussion with President Trump, but obviously what they need to get there is to make sure that we all work together on this.

And it is important that President Zelensky finds a way to restore his relationship with the American president and with the senior American leadership team.

UPDATE 1615 GMT:

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has responded to the verbal abuse of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

Diplomacy fails when negotiating partners are humiliated in front of the whole world. The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away. I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.

UPDATE 1209 GMT:

At least five civilians have been killed and at least 25 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Four of the fatalities were in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine and the other in the Odesa region in the south.

Casualties were also reported in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

Air defenses downed 103 of 154 drones launched by Russia overnight. The other 51 were lost to electronic counter-warfare.

UPDATE 1204 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a lengthy statement thanking the US for aid against Russia’s invasion.

The opening paragraphs:

We are very grateful to the United States for all the support. 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.

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.

As President Reagan once said, “Peace is not just the absence of war.” We’re talking about just and lasting peace—freedom, justice, and human rights for everyone. A ceasefire won’t work with Putin. He has broken ceasefires 25 times over the last ten years. A real peace is the only solution.

UPDATE 1155 GMT:

President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the support from numerous national leaders for Ukraine: “People in Ukraine need to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world.”

Zelensky individually thanked the leaders for backing Kyiv after the verbal attacks of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance:

UPDATE 0805 GMT:

The US State Department has ended a program restoring Ukraine’s energy system after Russian attacks.

<>The program, overseen by the US Agency for International Development and investing hundreds of millions of dollars, was wound down this week, according to two USAID employees in the mission in Ukraine.

This is a serious blow to the Trump Administration’s ability to negotiate a ceasefire. Moreover, it could send a signal to Russia that Washington doesn’t care about Ukraine or its previous investments,” said one USAID official.

USAID is under attack and at risk of dissolution by Donald Trump and his unelected co-President, Elon Musk. Around 90% of its programs have been halted and thousands of staff have been dismissed.

Only eight of 64 personnel in the Ukraine mission will retain positions.

UPDATE 0738 GMT:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the US Cyber ​​Command to halt planning against Russia, including offensive cyber-operations, say “three sources familiar with the matter”.

The Command has been told it will be in effect “for the foreseeable future”. It is to provide Hegseth with a “risk assessment” and a list of all missions that have been “frozen”.

Hegseth’s order was given personally to the head of Cyber ​​Command, Gen. Timothy Ho. The general in turn passed it to subordinates such as Maj. Gen. Ryan Herritage, who oversees the operational activities of US cyber-forces.

The order, issued about a week ago, may also include operations assisting Ukraine. Cyber ​​Command has sent specialists to Kyiv to strengthen Ukraine’s digital defense and to study Moscow’s capabilities.

Of almost 6,000 personnel in Cyber Command, one in four deals with Russia.

UPDATE 0707 GMT:

Seven civilians have been injured by a Russian drone attack on a medical facility in Kharkiv city in northeast Ukraine.

Drones also struck an area near a gas station and a high-rise apartment complex. A shopping mall, car dealership, and a fire station were damaged.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have verbally attacked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, likely ending any hope of US support of Ukrainian and European security amid Russia’s full-scale three-year invasion.

Zelensky was seeking a US aerial backstop for the deployment of troops from some NATO members, including the UK and France, in western Ukraine. The plan would ensure bolstering of air defenses and protection of energy infrastructure and facilities such as drone manufacturing plants.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited the White House on Monday and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday to pursue the initiative. As an essential preliminary, Zelensky and Trump were scheduled to sign an agreement for the Ukraine to provide minerals to the US.

In a joint press appearance, Trump and Zelensky exchanged viewpoints, sometimes with polite disagreement, about the state of the invasion, direct US-Russia talks, and the levels of US and European aid to Kyiv.

Trump ratcheted up the tension by balancing between Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, saying he was aligned with both because otherwise he would never get a deal. He refused to “say terrible things about Putin” — including the US objections to resolutions at the UN and G7 condemning “Russian aggression” — which would make negotiations difficult.

But it Vance who set off the explosion after he asserted, in support of direct US-Russia talks, “What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing”

Zelensky detailed Vladimir Putin’s killing of Ukrainians as he broke agreement and then asked politely, “So, what kind of diplomacy, J.D., are you speaking about?”. Vance loudly chastised the President for being “disrespectful”.

When Zelensky invited him to come to Ukraine rather than just speaking generally of Kyiv’s “problems”, Vance declared that he knew of Ukraine’s “propaganda tours”.

Trump then lectured Zelensky that he “had to be grateful” and cut off any response:

Don’t tell us what we’re gonna feel. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel….You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position….You don’t have the cards right now with us.

You are gambling with the lives of millions, you are gambling with World War Three. And what you are doing is very disrespectful to this country.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted:

Vance continued to hector Zelensky over a lack of gratitude, despite repeated thanks from Zelensky, and Trump raising his voice, Zelensky asked, “Do you think that if you will speak loudly…”, only to be cut off again.

Closing the meeting, Trump lectured Zelensky:

The problem is, I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States.

And your people are very brave. But you’re either going to make a deal or we are out and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out.

I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out.

But you don’t have the cards but once we sign that deal. You’re in a much better position [with the deal], but you’re not acting at all thankful and that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest.

Thrown Out of the White House

After meeting with Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump cancelled a joint press conference and the signing of the minerals agreement.

He dispatched Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to tell the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House.

The Ukrainians wanted to continue talks, but they were escorted out of the building, their lunch sitting on carts in the hallway.

Zelensky departed shortly thereafter. Although he cancelled a speaking engagement at the conservative Hudson Institute, he posted cordially about his visit:

In an evening interview w Fox TV, Zelensky said the episode was “not good for both sides”. He explained that nobody wants the invasion to end more than Ukrainians, but Ukraine and Europe needed security guarantees from the US before entering negotiations.

Even if he gave the order to stop fighting, Zelensky said “nobody will just stop” because everyone is afraid “Putin will come back tomorrow”: “We want just and lasting peace.”

He tried to keep open the door for US support, saying he was hopeful that his relationship with Trump could be salvaged and the minerals deal could be confirmed.

Leaving for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump snapped that Zelensky wanted to “fight, fight, fight”: “Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out, and if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty because without us, he doesn’t win.”

Secretary of State Rubio backed up Trump and Vance’s insults, demanding that Zelensky apologize.

There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic.

When you start talking about that aggressively – and the President is a deal-maker, he made deals his entire life – you’re not going to get people to the table. And so you start to perceive that maybe Zelenskyy doesn’t want a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn’t.

The US envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg also chose Trump over security and Ukrainians:

Russia Celebrates; Europe Backs Ukraine

The Kremlin cheered Trump and Vance’s display of support for their propaganda to undermine Zelensky.

Vladimir Putin’s economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev, who is engaged in talks with US officials to lift sanctions on Moscow, posted on Elon Musk’s X: “Historic”.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev cheered that Zelensky got “a proper slap down in the Oval Office”.

European leaders, who have provided the largest share of aid for Ukraine’s resistance of the invasion, rallied behind Zelensky and the Ukrainian people.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa posted:

Almost 20 leaders, including from France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and the Baltic States, issued similar messages.

The UK’s Starmer, who is hosting a meeting of European colleagues in Sunday to review the situation, said he had spoken to both Zelensky and Trump.

He emphasized that he “retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine”.

France’s Macron summarized:

Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine is the aggressed people.

I think we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago, and to continue to do so. We, that is the United States of America, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese and many others.

And we must thank all those who have helped and respect those who have been fighting since the beginning. Because they are fighting for their dignity, their independence, their children and the security of Europe.

These are simple things, but they’re good to remember at times like these, that’s all.

Only Hungary’s hard-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin and a loud Trump supporter, dissented:
“Today President Donald Trump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!”