On Saturday morning, at 9 a.m., a group of women spread in the busiest street in the center of kyiv and stopped traffic to observe a minute of silence. A speaker counted 60 ticks before raising the opening lines of the national anthem – “the glory and freedom of Ukraine have not yet perished”.
The drivers and passengers came out of their cars, standing in a silent tribute while the music resonated in the street.
It was a striking manifestation of respect, resilience and challenge – the characteristics of Ukraine’s response during the three years which followed the invasion of Russia in its own right sparked the worst European conflict since the Second World War.
And that seemed to take on a particular meaning the day after the collapse of the oval office of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy with American president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance.
The Ukrainians, hardened by repeated Russian attacks and quickly will join foreign threats, throw their support behind their chief after the shocking meeting that greatly stretched kyiv’s ties with Washington.
“Zelenskyy acted properly. Even if it costs us a lot, it was dignity, “said Solomiia Bobrovska, opposition deputy and member of the parliamentary committee on national security and information.
The attacks of Trump and Vance – in the short term, at least – galvanize the troops of Ukraine, a commander in an artillery unit fighting on the eastern front line, told Financial Times.
“He was a fucking show and Trump did not hide [his disdain]”For Zelenskyy,” he said. “It is a great reminder of the need to count on ourselves, with all the respect to those who helped us.”
In Kyiv, the opposition legislator Inna Sovsun urged his compatriots to “stay calm”. “It is not the worst that we have faced-however, like any knife in the back, it stings the most when it is unexpected,” she said.
Some have seen the row very public as a propaganda victory for the Kremlin.
“It seems that President Trump exaggerated when he said that there was a large ocean between Russia and the United States,” said Stanislav Aseyev, writer and former Ukrainian soldier, in an article on X. “Today, America was closer to Moscow than to history.”
In all of Ukraine, there is a real feeling that the country has entered its most perilous phase of war since the attacks of Russia against kyiv in the first weeks of the campaign three years ago. Trump’s accusation that Zelenskyy “plays with the Second World War” deepened the discomfort.
A government advisor looking at the drama taking place during a dinner in kyiv on Friday evening described to feel “in danger”, fearing that the hostility of the American president would lead to the abandonment of Ukraine. “Trump humiliated the Ukrainian president,” said the advisor.
The Ukrainians expected Trump and Zelenskyy to sign a mineral agreement-a step that Zelenskyy considers crucial to obtain American support for the guarantees of future ceasefire. But a person present with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office told the FT that the agreement was left unsigned.
Volodymyr Fseenko, director of the Penta Center for Political Studies, a kyiv’s reflection group, said that he expected that he expected tensions to evade during future peace negotiations, given that Trump and Zelenskyy’s positions were not fully aligned – “but it happened much earlier” that he hadn’t thought.
“Considering. . . The extreme emotivity of Zelensky and Trump, and the provocative role of JD Vance, it had to happen [at some point]”Said Fesenko.
He said that the West was now faced with a “full -fledged crisis, both in the relationship between Zelenskyy and Trump and at the interstate level”.
The cries match fueled the worries of the Ukrainians about the resilience of American support.
Members of the Parliament and soldiers of Ukraine who are fighting on the front line have said that they fear the recriminations of the United States, which has provided $ 66 billion in military assistance in the past three years.
Trump could reduce security assistance that Ukraine needs to retain the progress of the Russian forces on the battlefields in eastern Ukraine, and shoot down the missiles and drones that attack its critical infrastructure daily.
It could also cut the Starlink connections provided by Elon Musk Spacex, which are widely used by the Ukrainian soldiers to communicate and operate drones through the 1000 km front line. Any weakening of support in the United States would give Moscow an advantage.
“It is not only a question of weapons – even more important, the United States provides Ukraine information, including real -time information on the launches of Russian missiles and drones, on which we depend entirely,” said Volodymyr Ariev, opposition legislator and close to former President Petro Poroshenko, who criticized Zelenskyy.
Ariev said that Ukraine and the United States “need to find diplomatic solutions” to repair the relationship so that “the Trump administration maintains the aid already agreed”.
According to Pentagon officials, around $ 3.85 billion in the congress authorized for additional withdrawals from Pentagon shares.
“The two parties are at fault, but Ukraine is in a more vulnerable situation,” said Ariev. “So we have to put aside all thoughts and emotions and focus on [getting] results.”
On Saturday, Zelenskyy went to social networks to thank Trump and the United States for their “vital” support. But, he said, it was important to be “honest and direct”, and reiterated his position on a cease-fire.
“As President Reagan said one day,” peace is not only the absence of war “, wrote Zelenskyy. “We are talking about just and sustainable peace – freedom, justice and human rights for everyone. A ceasefire will not work with Putin. He has broken the ceases 25 times in the past 10 years. A real peace is the only solution.
Additional reports from Fabrice Deprez to Kyiv
