Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went on an online thanking spree after dozens of world leaders voiced support for him in the aftermath of his contentious Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
On Friday, relations between Ukraine and the United States dramatically broke down after a shouting match in the Oval Office, prompting Trump to call off a planned minerals deal and send Zelensky away. During the bilateral meeting, Vance criticized Zelensky for not saying “thank you” for the continued U.S. support. Afterward, the Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude toward European and Anglosphere politicians who supported him on X.
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Zelensky thanked at least 38 heads of state, former heads of state, bureaucrats, ministers, and other officials from 26 countries, quoting their statements of support.
After an initial statement of thanks directed at Trump and the U.S. more broadly, Zelensky thanked officials from Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Croatia, Luxembourg, France, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, and Spain.
Every response read, “Thank you for your support.”
Thank you for your support. https://t.co/Z0PsMOXNIT
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 1, 2025
Thank you for your support. https://t.co/YjZKZbYITg
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 28, 2025
While most statements were from heads of state, others were from lower-ranking officials. In the case of Slovakia, former President Zuzana Caputova’s statement of support was at odds with the current government’s stance.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico released a statement of support for Trump’s position on Saturday, announcing that Slovakia “will not support Ukraine either financially or militarily to enable it to continue the war.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the only other head of state from the European Union to voice support for Trump.
“Strong men make peace, weak men make war. Today President @realDonaldTrump stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!” he said.
After roughly 40 minutes of Zelensky, Trump, Vance, and other Trump officials speaking in front of the press, the meeting became heated, with the three taking on a more confrontational tone.
Vance said, “Have you said thank you once, in this entire meeting?”
Zelensky began answering before the second half of Vance’s question, prompting many, and possibly the Ukrainian president himself, to believe the vice president was suggesting that Zelensky had never thanked the U.S. for its support.
CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins confronted State Secretary Marco Rubio with a compilation of Zelensky thanking the U.S. for its support during the Biden administration, prompting Rubio to answer that Vance was referring to saying thank you at the Oval Office meeting, specifically.
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In a lengthy Saturday statement on X, Zelensky reiterated his gratitude for U.S. support, saying that he was ready to sign the minerals agreement, but that he wouldn’t change his stance on security guarantees from the U.S. as a precondition to end the war.
“We are ready to sign the minerals agreement, and it will be the first step toward security guarantees. But it’s not enough, and we need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine. We’ve been fighting for 3 years, and Ukrainian people need to know that America is on our side,” he said.
