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UKRAINIANS UNITE BEHIND ZELENSKYY AFTER FIGHT WITH TRUMP  
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Lena Surzhko Harned
March 2, 2025
The Conversation
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_ Some fear disaster, others calmly accept a new reality in
U.S.-Ukraine relations. The treatment of Ukraine’s president by
Trump and Vance has produced a presumably unintended consequence: It
has unified a war-weary Ukrainian people. _

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“A president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It
wasn’t Zelenskyy.”

That was the verdict
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of the editorial team at the Kyiv Independent, one of Ukraine’s
leading media outlets, on a remarkable spat in the Oval Office that
played out on Feb. 28, 2025.

The online newspaper European Pravda
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characterized the “quarrel at the highest level” as a diplomatic
failure, but added that it was “not yet a catastrophe.”

Some Ukrainians I have spoken to since the fractious encounter, during
which Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy was repeatedly hectored by U.S.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, have indeed
characterized it as disastrous for the country
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But for others, the incident has been calmly accepted as the new
reality in U.S.-Ukraine relations
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There have been some questions directed at Zelenskyy – did he allow
himself to be baited into an an argument that could have real
consequences? Should he have remained silent? But for the most part,
the treatment of Ukraine’s president by Trump and Vance has produced
a presumably unintended consequence: It has unified a war-weary
Ukrainian people
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As one friend who has been displaced by war from the now occupied city
of Nova Kakhovka told me, there has not been this level of
mobilization and patriotism in three years.

‘The country needs unity’

This unity is seen in the response across Ukraine’s political
divide. Petro Poroshenko, an often outspoken opponent of Zelenskyy and
leader of the opposition party European Solidarity, said on March 1
that, to the surprise of many, he will not criticize Zelenskyy’s
performance [[link removed]] at
the White House. “The country does not need criticism, the country
needs unity,” he said in the video posted on X.

Anecdotally, even those Ukrainians who did not vote for Zelenskyy have
told me that events in the Oval Office made them feel more supportive
of Zelenskyy.

However, a sense of realism is sinking in over the shifting stance of
the U.S. administration. Trump’s stated trust in Vladimir Putin
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and his conciliatory comments over Russian aggression – including a
refusal to acknowledge Russian war crimes – have, for many
Ukrainians, set low expectations that the White House can help achieve
a quick and lasting peace. Yet, as Inna Sovsun of the opposition party
Holos noted [[link removed]], “It
was difficult to watch a president who’s been a victim of Russian
aggression being attacked by the leader of the free world.”

Setting the record straight

The Feb. 28 meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders followed
weeks of increasingly harsh Trump rhetoric
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toward Zelenskyy. Since being inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump has called
the Ukrainian leader
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a “dictator without elections,” claiming – incorrectly – that
Zelenksyy had 4% approval ratings. He also indicted that the invasion
by Russian troops in February 2022 was Ukraine’s fault
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Such comments had already made Ukrainians rally around Zelenskyy, who
has a healthy 63% approval rating, according to the latest polls
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The ugly scenes in the Oval Office could see a further rallying around
Zelenskyy, especially if he can successfully characterize his role in
the dispute as that of defender of his people. Doing so would tap into
growing popular resentment over the new U.S. administration’s
apparent unwillingness to acknowledge Russian war crimes
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In the days leading up to the Zelenskyy-Trump meeting, the U.S. voted
with Russia against a United Nations resolution
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aggression and opposed the wording of a draft G7 statement
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marking the third anniversary of the war, which depicted Russia as the
aggressor.

Letting Putin off the hook

The angry exchanges in the Oval Office seemed to have been sparked by
Zelenskyy’s objection to Trump’s assertion that Russian President
Vladimir Putin is a man of his word.

That refusal to call out Putin – who faces an arrest warrant from
the International Criminal Court
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angers Ukrainians who have suffered Russian aggression for three
years. To hammer that point home, Zekenskyy showed Trump and others in
the Oval Office photos of Ukrainian prisoners of war who return from
Russian captivity tortured and abused.

As Ukrainian human rights lawyer and Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra
Matviichuk noted in a Feb. 17 speech
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65% of Ukrainians polled early in the conflict said their main
disappointment in ending the war would be “impunity for Russian
crimes.” Three years of conflict will have only hardened that
sentiment – yet the U.S., under Trump’s leadership, looks
increasingly willing to let Putin off the hook
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Defender of the nation – and truth

A large section of Ukrainian media – both traditionally pro- and
anti-Zelenskyy alike – have since Feb. 28 portrayed the president in
the role of a defender of both his nation and the truth.

He was, this framing has it, forced into the difficult position of
having to set the record straight and challenge untrue statements in
real time, and in front of the seemingly antagonistic leader of the
world’s largest economy, whose support has been crucial in
Ukraine’s attempt to repel the invading Russian army
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To some, keeping silent would have been tantamount to capitulation,
but others have questioned Zelenskyy’s approach.

While still maintaining that Zelenskyy’s key message was correct,
some Ukrainians have suggested that his emotional tone in the Oval
Office
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was not constructive.

Opposition lawmaker Oleskiy Goncharenko suggested in an interview on
CNN that Zelenskyy should have been more “diplomatic” and more
“calm
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given that the stakes were so high.

Meanwhile, there were also those who questioned the decision to hold
such an important conversation in front of the press, especially
without the use of professional translators who potentially could have
tamped down the rhetoric and slowed the pace of the exchange. Thus, as
Tymofiy Mylovanov, the adviser to the office of the president and head
of the Kyiv School of Economics put it, some things could “have been
lost in translation
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‘Zelensky is our democratic leader’

So where does the Oval Office dispute leave both Zelenskyy and
U.S.-Ukrainian relations?

In the aftermath of the dispute, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham –
who has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine – suggested that
Zelenskyy should resign
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the implications being that his relationship with Trump was so broken
that his presence is now counterproductive for Ukraine’s priorities.

It is a line that hasn’t gone down well in Ukraine. Kira Rudyk, the
leader of opposition party Holos, retorted that it was up to the
Ukrainian people alone
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their leadership and future
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Moreover, to many Ukrainians the barrier to harmonious Ukraine-U.S.
relations is not Zelenskyy, but Trump.

Mustafa Nayyem, who served in Zelesnkyy’s government, summed up the
view of many Ukrainians by claiming in a social media post that the
Trump administration
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dislike Ukraine. They despise us.” The “contempt is deeper than
indifference, and more dangerous than outright hostility,” he added
in the Feb. 28 post.

Intentional provocation

Serhii Sternenko, a Ukrainian activist lawyer and blogger, described
the Oval Office spat [[link removed]] as an
intentional provocation on behalf of Trump to discredit Ukraine as an
unreliable partner in the peace negotiations.

Sternenko is not alone in his assessment. Journalist and blogger
Vitaly Portnikov argued that the spat was the result of Trump’s
unrealistic promise [[link removed]] of
ending the war quickly being confronted with the reality that perhaps
Russia does not want to make any concessions. The thinking here is
Putin has shown no indication that he will bend on his war goals
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so for Trump, framing Zelenskyy as “not ready for peace” allows
the U.S. president to walk away from his campaign promise without
accepting defeat.

A new reality

Beyond the headlines and initial reactions from Ukrainian politicians,
journalists and civilians, there is also another sentiment that is
emerging: resignation to the new reality.

Most Ukrainians want an end to war
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but in a way that preserves their sovereignty and guarantees future
security
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Until recently, that was shared by the occupants of the White House.
It is becoming increasingly clear to many Ukrainians that, in regards
the war in Ukraine, the U.S. will play a different role under Trump
– meaning Ukraine will increasingly look to European leaders
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Perhaps Goncharenko, the opposition member of Ukraine’s Parliament,
best summed up the consequences
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of the Oval Office spat: “It was not Ukraine, it was not the United
States who won … it was Putin.”[The Conversation]

_Lena Surzhko Harned
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an Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State
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This article is republished from The Conversation
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the original article
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Conversation is a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated
to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. Get
fact-based journalism written by experts in your inbox each morning
with a Conversation newsletter
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* Ukraine
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* Volodymyr Zelensky
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* Donald Trump
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