-Analysis-
KYIV — The question about why Volodymyr Zelensky was not wearing a suit at the White House was, of course, a provocation. A side note to the escalation that unfolded before the TV cameras for all the world to see. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion three years ago, the Ukrainian president has not worn a suit: it is a statement. But what went largely unnoticed on Friday: Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, the second most powerful man in Ukraine and Zelensky’s closest confidant, did wear a suit — and it was for the first time since the Russian invasion of Feb. 24, 2022.
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The 53-year-old is also Zelensky’s most important man for relations between Ukraine and the U.S. It was largely thanks to him that after two weeks of tough diplomacy, an originally exploitative rare minerals agreement shrank to a de facto meaningless declaration of intent. With with suit and tie, he signaled in the Oval Office what they keep demanding: respect. You could say, at least, they tried.
It was foreseeable that relations between Ukraine and the U.S. would deteriorate under Donald Trump. Signing the raw materials agreement, as was actually planned on Friday, should have helped to limit the damage to the difficult relations between the two countries. But this did not happen.
Instead, completely different images went around the world. Images such as that of the Ukrainian ambassador in Washington, Oksana Markarova, who watched the political catastrophe unfold, clearly stunned and shaking her head. Her bewilderment was shared by the whole country.
Even the opposition supports Zelensky
Should Zelensky have shown more gratitude at the meeting, as Trump and his vice president J.D. Vance demanded? Should he have accepted the slander in the run-up to the meeting, when Trump called him a “dictator” and falsely claimed had only 4% approval rating in the country? Perhaps.
But Ukrainians know that the real reason the talks failed is because their president was not prepared to give up Ukraine’s strategic interests.
It is clear from what Trump and Vance said that Ukraine is not being listened to on the crucial point: “Without guaranteeing the country’s security and sovereignty, any agreement is not worth the paper it’s signed on,” says Mykola Beleskov from the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv. “The US literally does not want to listen to Ukraine.”
A Ukrainian did not exchange his dignity for Trump’s praise
For many, this was the darkest day in 33 years of U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
The irony is that these attacks on Zelensky as a person are giving him stronger support at home. The country is rallying around its embattled president, who has recently come under increasing criticism due to problems at the front and the unpopular forced mobilization of Ukrainian men.
He even received support from the opposition. “Could I have blamed Zelensky for not holding back? Sure,” said Serhij Fursa, a well-known critic of the president. However, the president of a country that is fighting for its dignity was sitting in the Oval Office. “There, in the White House, was a Ukrainian who did not exchange his dignity for Trump’s praise. It should unite us all again.”
Polls rise
This renewed solidarity was already beginning in recent days, after Zelensky’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. It grew stronger after he withstood pressure from Trump about signing the raw materials agreement. And finally, peaked with Trump’s personal attacks on live TV.
The most recent polling, which came out before the White House clash, showed that Ukrainian attitudes toward Zelensky had improved for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In November 2024, his approval rating was around 53%, going up in January 2025 to 57%. And it will likely continue to solidify. Indeed, Ukraine is once again showing signs of the sense of unity that existed in the first weeks of the war — even if these three tough years have left their mark on the people.
In search of new alliances
But what does this mean strategically? First, it means that the country will not drop its president, even if Trump and his team would obviously like it to. Instead, Ukraine will have to make much greater efforts to forge alliances beyond the U.S.. On Sunday, Zelensky was in the UK where he held talks with European heads of state and government.
“If Europe stands behind us, it will be much more difficult for Trump to exert pressure on us and push through his position,” notes Oleksandr Krajew, head of the North America program of the foreign policy think tank Ukrainian Prism.
Trump himself is trying to push Europe to take care of its own security. It should now do so.
People in Kyiv at this point are not banking on Donald Trump coming to his senses any time soon. They would rather prepare for the worst possible scenario: That the U.S. could cease all military cooperation with Ukraine, even the mere sale of weapons.
Prepared for a worst-case scenario
The consequences would be devastating for the country. Although the war has changed over the past three years, the front would probably not collapse immediately. According to the Defence Committee, around 60% of Russian soldiers and 75% of Russian military technology have been eliminated by Ukrainian-made drones last year. The dependence on Western partners has therefore decreased.
The situation is different when it comes to air defense. Here, Ukraine is dependent on the Patriot system from the U.S.. Without these missiles, cities such as Lviv, Kyiv and Odessa would also be exposed to significantly greater dangers. Russia could attack the country’s infrastructure to an even greater extent.
It will be even harder. But have the last three years been easy for us?
It would also be severely damaging if Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk were to decide to switch off the Starlink terminals that the Ukrainian military uses. The satellite system is essential for communication, especially on the front line. Although alternatives exist, they are far from being available in sufficient numbers. Intelligence data from the U.S., which was previously shared with Ukraine, would be completely irreplaceable.
Not good prospects, but also no reason to give up – this is roughly how many Ukrainians are reacting to the scandal in the White House. “It will be even harder. But have the last three years been easy for us? Absolutely not,” says the military reporter Bohdan Myrozhnykov. “We will make it. But we all have to come together now. If there is no unity, there will be no country. Unity is our great hope.” And as he did at the start of the war, the Ukrainian president is once again making a decisive contribution to this unity — this time thanks to Donald Trump.
