Kyiv, Mar 1: Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his country's interests. The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders on Friday seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping to fend off and ultimately conclude Russia's three-year onslaught.

The exchange, which saw a frustrated Zelenskyy lectured by Trump and Vice President JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous US support, delighted officials in Moscow, who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader. But many Ukrainians on Friday seemed unfazed by the blowout between Zelenskyy and Trump, expressing a sense that the Ukrainian leader had stood up for their country's dignity and interests by firmly maintaining his stance in the face of chiding from some of the world's most powerful men. 슬롯사이트˜Not Sure We Did Something Bad슬롯사이트™: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Refuses To Apologise for His Behaviour With Donald Trump in Fox News Interview (Watch Video).

Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president's performance in Washington, "because Zelenskyy fought like a lion슬롯사이트. 슬롯사이트œThey had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation,슬롯사이트 she said. But Zelenskyy "was defending Ukraine's interests슬롯사이트. The meeting at the White House was meant to produce a bilateral agreement that would establish a joint investment fund for reconstructing Ukraine, a deal that was seen as a potential step toward bringing an end to the war and tying the two countries' economies together for years to come.

But as Zelenskyy and his team departed the White House at Trump's request, the deal went unsigned, and Ukraine's hopes for securing US security backing seemed farther away than ever. Yet as the Ukrainian leader was set to return to Kyiv empty handed, his support at home seemed undiminished. As two drones struck Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on Friday night, the head of the region which sits on the border with Russia, Oleh Syniehubov, praised Zelenskyy. He said the president held strong to his insistence that no peace deal could be made without assurances for Ukraine's security against future Russian aggression.

슬롯사이트œOur leader, despite the pressure, stands firm in defending the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians... We need only a just peace with security guarantees,슬롯사이트 Syniehubov said. Kyiv resident Artem Vasyliev, 37, said he had seen 슬롯사이트œcomplete disrespect슬롯사이트 from the United States in the Oval Office exchange, despite the fact that Ukraine 슬롯사이트œwas the first country that stood up to Russia슬롯사이트. 슬롯사이트œWe are striving for democracy, and we are met with total disrespect, toward our warriors, our soldiers, and the people of our country,슬롯사이트 said Vasyliev, a native of Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Shouting Match Between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky: 슬롯사이트˜He Disrespected US, Can Come Back When He Is Ready for Peace,슬롯사이트™ Says Trump (Watch Video).

Vasyliev criticised the US president for what he said was a failure to recognise the human cost of Russia's invasion, saying Trump "doesn't understand that people are dying, that cities are being destroyed, people are suffering, mothers, children, soldiers슬롯사이트. 슬롯사이트œHe cannot understand this, he is just a businessman. For him, money is sacred,슬롯사이트 he said. Ukrainian social media was awash in praise for Zelenskyy late Friday, with officials on the national, regional and local level chiming in to voice their support for their leader.

The outpouring resembled a recent surge in Ukrainian unity after Trump denigrated Zelenskyy by making false claims that Ukraine was led by a 슬롯사이트œdictator슬롯사이트 who started the war with Russia 슬롯사이트” comments that led some of the Ukrainian president's harshest critics to rally around him. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which was mostly occupied by Russia early in the war but later partially retaken by Ukrainian forces, said three years of war had hardened his countrymen to the ups and downs of the fight to survive.

슬롯사이트œWe know what pressure is, on the front lines, in politics, in daily struggle," Prokudin said. "It has made us stronger. It has made the president stronger. Determination is the force that drives us forward. And I am confident that we will endure this time as well.슬롯사이트 Trump's administration cast the heated exchange with Zelenskyy as part of its 슬롯사이트œAmerica First슬롯사이트 policy and slammed the Ukrainian leader for a perceived lack of gratitude for US assistance. But Zelenskyy's backers in Ukraine praised his commitment to acting in Ukraine's national interest 슬롯사이트” even if it meant coming into conflict with the president of the United States.

슬롯사이트œUnwavering commitment to Ukraine's interests and devotion to his country. This is what we saw today in the United States. Support for the President of Ukraine,슬롯사이트 Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba wrote on Telegram Friday. Not all of Ukraine's political figures, however, were as full-throated in their praise for how the Oval Office meeting concluded. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that he hoped 슬롯사이트œthat Ukraine does not lose the support of the United States, which is extremely important to us슬롯사이트. 슬롯사이트œToday is not the time for emotions, from either side. We need to find common ground,슬롯사이트 Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram.

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