European leaders voice support for Ukrainian leader as US support for Kyiv hangs in the balance following disastrous meeting

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, hours after an unprecedented showdown between US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.

European leaders have voiced their solidarity with Ukraine in the wake of the disastrous summit, in which Trump said the Ukrainian leader was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”.

European leaders have rallied behind Zelenskyy after the unprecedented exchange. The heads of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the European Council, Antonio Costa, were among the leaders who assured Zelenskyy of Europe’s support. “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.”

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán stood out in Europe for thanking Trump for having “stood bravely for peace”. Moscow, meanwhile, reacted with glee to the Trump-Zelenskyy clash, with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev – now deputy head of Russia’s security council – saying on Telegram: “A brutal dressing down in the Oval Office.”

In an interview with Fox news, Zelenskyy expressed regret that the Trump meeting became acrimonious but insisted their relationship could be salvaged. The Ukrainian leader defended himself, but also acknowledged the dispute was “not good for both sides”. Asked if he felt he owed the US president an apology, as many of Trump’s Republican allies have 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.”

US secretary of state Marco Rubio called on Zelenskyy to apologise after the disastrous exchange, while questioning whether the Ukrainian leader really wanted a peace deal. Zelenskyy should “apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco for him that it became”, Rubio told CNN. “There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic.”

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.

US Democratic lawmakers came to Zelenskyy’s defence, 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 was once among the most outspoken advocates for supporting the Ukraine war effort, called on Zelenskyy to resign.

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.