‘He Fought Like A Lion’: Ukrainians Show Support To Zelenskyy After Oval Office Spat

Oval Office Spat: Ukrainians have rallied behind President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the big blowout in the Oval Office between US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy over the Russia- Ukraine war.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Ukrainians said that their leader has stood up for their country’s dignity and interests by firmly maintaining his stance despite the criticism from some of the world’s powerful men.    

Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president’s performance in Washington “because Zelenskyy fought like a lion.”

“They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation,” she said, as per AP. But Zelenskyy “was defending Ukraine’s interests.”

Meanwhile, Yulia, while speaking to the BBC in Kyiv, said that it was an emotional conversation and tha she understands Zelenskyy. “Maybe it wasn’t diplomatic, but it was sincere. It’s about life, we want to live,” Yulia said.

Yulia reflects a political trend in Ukraine: the more the country comes under attack, the stronger its unity becomes.

As per the report, before the 2022 Russian invasion, President Zelensky’s trust rating was 37 per cent. Afterwards, it rocketed to 90 per cent.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance openly berated Zelensky for not being “thankful”. They further accused the Ukrainian leader of “not being ready for peace” and having “disrespected” the United States in the “cherished Oval Office”.

The White House meeting was to finalise a minerals deal agreement. Instead, the agreement, which Kyiv and its European allies had hoped would usher in better relations, was left unsigned and in limbo.

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‘Humiliating all the dead’

Another citizen, Vitalyna Tarasova, a 43-year-old English teacher in Kyiv and the widow of a Ukrainian soldier, told AP that Trump and Vance’s treatment of Zelenskyy was akin to humiliating “all the dead and all the children who have lost their parents” in the war-weary country.

“My husband was a military pilot. He [was] burned alive, his plane was shot down… So yesterday they spat at him, at me, at my children, and it was very painful to watch,” she said.

“They [Donald Trump and JD Vance] were so rude,” 30-year-old Andriy told the BBC. “They don’t respect the people of Ukraine.”

“It looks like Washington supports Russia!” observes Dmytro, 26.

Ukrainian social media was flooded with praise for Zelenskyy late Friday, as officials at the national, regional, and local levels joined in to express their support for their leader.

According to AP, the outpouring mirrored a recent surge in Ukrainian unity after Trump disparaged Zelenskyy with false claims that Ukraine was led by a “dictator” who started the war with Russia—remarks that even prompted some of Zelenskyy’s harshest critics to rally around him.