Emmanuel Macron throws support behind Zelensky as world leaders react to his Oval Office showdown with Trump

World leaders have vowed to stand by Ukraine after Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky locked horns in a blistering row on Friday. 

French president Emmanuel Macron, who himself met Trump earlier this week, said ‘Russia’ was the aggressor in conflict as he called for continued international support. 

Tempers flared inside the Oval Office this afternoon over comments by the Ukrainian leader that ‘killer’ Putin could not be trusted. 

Trump accused Zelensky of ‘gambling with World War III’ and warned him to either ‘make a deal or we’re out’. 

‘There is an aggressor which is Russia. There is an aggressed people which is Ukraine,’ Macron told journalists in response to the spat. 

‘I think we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so,’ he added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen were also among the leaders to express solidarity with Mr Zelensky. 

Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch called for ‘respectable diplomacy’ following the tense meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. 

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the Conservative Party leader said: ‘Respectable diplomacy is essential for peace. 

‘We need to remember that the villain is the war criminal President Putin who illegally invaded another sovereign country – Ukraine. 

‘We cannot lose sight of the fact that tonight air raid sirens are sounding in Ukraine,’ she added. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also vowed to stand by Ukraine following the contentious meeting. 

‘Dear @ZelenskyyUa, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone,’ Tusk wrote on X late Friday. 

Meanwhile, Penny Mordaunt said: ‘Outraged at the scenes in the oval office? We should strengthen Zelensky’s hand, to use Trump’s metaphor. 

‘The UK and EU must do more to strengthen Europe’s defence. Vocal support is not enough. 

‘The aid-budget-fudge is not enough. Carry on as we are, is not enough. Wake up Britain. Wake up Europe.’

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also threw his support behind Zelensky on Friday.

‘Ukraine, Spain stands with you,’ he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter on Friday. 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal reiterated the comments made by Zelenksy during his meeting with Trump. 

‘Zelensky is right. Peace without guarantees is not possible,’ Shmygal said on X. 

‘Cease-fire without guarantees is the way to Russian occupation of the (whole) European continent.’ 

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on X: ‘Germany together with our European allies stands united alongside #Ukraine – and against the Russian aggression. 

‘Ukraine can build on unwavering support from Germany, Europe and beyond. Their defence of democracy & their quest for peace & security is ours.’

Furthermore, Irish premier Micheal Martin described the Oval Office encounter between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘quite extraordinary’ and ‘very unsettling’.

The Taoiseach said he believes Europe will continue to stand with Ukraine, but added that it also has to keep engaging with the US.

Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday said US President Donald Trump showed ‘restraint’ by not hitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their shouting match in the White House.

‘I think Zelensky’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support,’ she wrote on Telegram.

‘How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint,’ she said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, called Zelensky an ‘insolent pig’ who had received ‘a proper slap down in the Oval Office’.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, called the heated confrontation between Trump and Zelensky ‘historic’.

Dmitriev was one of Moscow’s negotiators in the Russian-American talks held on February 18 in Saudi Arabia – the first since Russia began its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

The comments come after it was revealed that Trump halted peace talks and kicked Zelensky out of the White House after the blistering spat. 

‘It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,’ he said in a post on Truth Social. 

‘I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. 

‘He can come back when he is ready for peace.’

The two men were scheduled to participate in a press conference later Friday. 

However, this event was canceled and Zelensky was seen exiting the White House about two hours after his arrival.

In his own message on social media, he said: ‘Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. 

‘Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.’

During the meeting, Trump threatened he would abandon Ukraine completely if Zelensky did not agree to his peace terms. 

However, Zelensky held his own, even showing Trump photos he brought of the devastation to his country and arguing he had thanked the American people.

The shouting match was unlike anything ever seen publicly in the Oval Office. And it played out on TV screens across the world.

‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump warned Zelensky.