Call for Ukraine leader to change or resign after White House blow-up

Washington — An angry White House clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump divided the US president’s fellow Republicans and dimmed prospects that Congress will approve any further aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

On Saturday, Republican senator Lisa Murkowski said there were “whispers from the White House that they may try to end all US support for Ukraine... I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and US values around the world.”

Other Republicans who had long supported Ukraine lashed out at Zelensky after Friday’s exchange, in which Trump and vice-president JD Vance berated the Ukrainian leader before the world’s media, accusing him of disrespect.

Senator Lindsey Graham called for Zelensky to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelensky and a dozen senators.

“What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don't know if we can ever do business with Zelensky again,” Graham, a close Trump ally, told reporters as he left the White House after the clash, which drove relations with Kyiv’s most important wartime ally to a new low.

“He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change,” the South Carolina senator said.

Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “The US of America will no longer be taken for granted.”

But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.

New York Representative Mike Lawler, in a post on X, called the Oval Office meeting “a missed opportunity for both the US and Ukraine — an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security co-operation.”

Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, threw his support behind Kyiv.

“A bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom,” he said in a statement.

Neither of the Republican legislators criticised Trump or Vance.

Zelensky was in Washington to sign an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s rich natural resources with the US.

The Ukrainian leader had seen the meeting with Trump and Vance as an opportunity to persuade the US not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin in his war with Moscow’s smaller neighbour. Instead, Zelensky was told to leave and the agreement was left unsigned.

Kyiv’s backers had hoped the deal would help win more support from Trump’s Republicans — who hold slim majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives — for future aid.

Congress has approved $175-billion in assistance since Putin launched his full-scale invasion three years ago, but the last measure passed in April, when Democrats controlled the Senate and Democrat Joe Biden was in the White House.

Even then, congressional Republicans slow-walked the bill under pressure from candidate Trump, who has been sceptical of further military aid to Ukraine, leading to delays in delivering weapons that put Ukrainian troops on the back foot in the battlefield.

If Trump, the party leader, had skin in the game and was promoting a “very big” minerals deal he had negotiated, analysts said, it would likely have rallied Republican support for Ukraine aid.

Some Republicans who have advocated for assisting Ukraine said they hoped relations could be rebuilt.

Representative Michael McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, said he still hoped for a real and lasting peace that ensures Ukraine would be free from further Russian aggression.

“I also urge President Zelensky to sign the mineral deal immediately,” the Texas legislator posted on X. “It will create an economic partnership between the US and Ukraine. It is in both of our interests to get this deal done.”

Reuters