Yulia Koliadynska did not vote for Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine’s presidential election in 2019.
But when the owner of a central Kyiv paper goods and restaurant supply shop watched President Zelenskyy spar Friday with the U.S. president and vice president, she suddenly felt in her heart that Ukraine has the leader it needs for these very difficult times.
“What I saw was a guy who is really fighting for us, and even as I watched I crossed myself and was thankful to God that Zelenskyy is our president,” says the wife and aunt of soldiers fighting in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
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After three years of exhausting war, Ukrainians were shocked to see Volodymyr Zelenskyy lock horns with Donald Trump, who appears closely aligned with Russia. Both the public and politicians are now seeking a way forward in this new world.
“I’m very grateful we have a president who defends us and isn’t selling us for nothing,” adds the shopkeeper, who knows a thing or two about sales.
Across Ukraine, the initial shock over the confrontation, which culminated in President Donald Trump summarily dismissing Mr. Zelenskyy from the White House as if he were some ungrateful mendicant, has subsided. It has been replaced by hopes for calmer heads to prevail soon and for U.S.-Ukraine relations to somehow weather the storm.
But there is also a strong sense that something shifted on a global scale in the Oval Office last week. The United States, which many have said for decades could be counted on to defend international principles like democracy and national sovereignty, appeared to be turning away from the concept of the West and toward a world dominated by big powers, right before their eyes.
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“We think of the Americans as our good friends over these past three very difficult years of war, so we can’t understand how this president can change the direction of geopolitics with the whole world watching,” says Alex Kochergin, a bank finance director taking a morning break in a café in Kyiv’s upscale Lypky district.
“Right in front of us, he changed who is the aggressor in this war and said Ukraine started it – and even spoke of the Russia of [President Vladimir] Putin as America’s normal partner,” he adds. “How can this be coming from the country that during the Cold War saw the Soviet Union as the enemy and supported the dreams for freedom of the small countries dominated by Russia?”
“We have to move forward”
Some Ukrainian politicians say they understand the initial disbelief and high emotions that many of their compatriots experienced. But they also say it is now time to consider next steps.
“I understand completely why the initial reaction was a lot of shock, but I think it’s not too soon to realize we have to move forward and to ask ourselves, ‘What do we do next?’” says Inna Sovsun, a member of parliament from the opposition Holos party.
The first point is that Ukraine must shift to work more closely with European and other allies including those in Asia, she says. At first “quite skeptical” about Sunday’s London summit of European and other friends of Ukraine hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ms. Sovsun says she was encouraged to see serious discussion of a “new era” for Europe to join forces and defend itself.
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She sees hope in the summit’s determination to develop a ceasefire plan for the war in Ukraine that the U.S. can support. But she says it’s also time for cool heads to salvage U.S.-Ukraine relations.
“I understand the strong feelings when we have seen [President Trump and top officials in the administration] so cozy with the guys who invaded us, and even blaming us for the invasion. We know it’s just not true,” she says.
“But it’s not like the U.S. can be quickly or easily replaced,” she adds. “So we have to find ways to preserve this relationship.”
That cannot mean accepting the command of some in Washington that Ukraine’s legitimate president step down, she says. But she says Ukraine could consider naming a special high-level representative to negotiate with the Trump administration in President Zelenskyy’s place.
“If we can’t get the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship back on track, it only brings joy to Putin,” she says. “And it’s U.S.-Europe relations and others that will suffer if the U.S. is left to go farther into an isolationist position.”
“Zelenskyy spoke the truth”
Perhaps the clearest immediate impact of the Trump-Zelenskyy clash is a rallying around the flag – with Mr. Zelenskyy the chief beneficiary.
After three years of devastating war, the Ukrainian leader had seen his popular support gradually decline to levels that prompted some pundits to predict his defeat in any reelection bid. All that changed as, at least to Ukrainians’ eyes, he stood his ground before Mr. Putin’s new best friend.
“Most Ukrainians believe Zelenskyy spoke the truth to Trump about a ceasefire being meaningless if there are no security guarantees. And that tough but realistic talk has made him suddenly very popular,” says Volodymyr Dubovyk, an associate professor in international relations at Odesa National University.
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Noting that Trump aides and congressional Republicans, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, suggested over the weekend that Mr. Zelenskyy should step down, Dr. Dubovyk adds, “I think it’s going to be a big surprise for Trump and his people when they realize Zelenskyy’s support has gone up to 70% or 80%.”
Americans’ welcome support
Many Ukrainians were taken aback to hear politicians from the world’s longtime supporter of democracy advocate the removal of an elected leader of another country.
Adriana Dovha also went from being a Zelenskyy critic to supporter over the course of one White House encounter.
“For Trump we see that peace must come at the cost of our capitulation, and Zelenskyy is standing up to that,” says the college photography teacher in Lviv, a western Ukraine university city of 2 million people.
The author of documentary photo books espouses another common position among Ukrainians, that no big power can force Ukraine to accept a bad peace that would fail and result in another Russian invasion.
“I believe Trump understands that Ukraine cannot agree to an unfair peace,” she says. “But we also know Trump has a passion to win the Nobel Peace Prize,” she adds, “so it seems to us he wants peace at any cost.”
Ms. Dovha says she has taken heart from the many signs of Americans’ support for Ukraine that she has seen on the news and on social media.
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Those signs of solidarity are also reassuring to a trio of friends at Lviv’s Ukrainian Catholic University discussing the confounding spectacle of their president coming to verbal blows with Mr. Trump.
“I was really excited when Zelenskyy was going to Washington. I thought it was a hopeful sign for Ukraine, because we know we can’t stand up too long in the war without the U.S.,” says Nazar Kravchuk, a student in ethics, economics, and politics. “But then with the way [the White House meeting] went, everything now seems very much worse.”
But dorm mate Oleksii Lasiichuk has a different take. For one thing, he says, Ukrainians are already responding to the Washington debacle with a soothing humor, mostly in memes and cartoons on the internet. “Humor unites,” he says.
But just as important are the widespread signs of support for Ukraine across the U.S.
“I was so happy to get a text from an American friend in New Jersey who wrote after the White House thing, ‘Bro, I just saw the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, I’m really sorry.’ It was like he felt responsible as an American,” Mr. Lasiichuk says. “It helps us in Ukraine to know many Americans feel like that.”
Oleksandr Naselenko supported reporting for this story.
