Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was warmly greeted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outside 10 Downing St. in London on Saturday, a day after Zelenskyy’s tense exchange with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.
Zelemskyy and Starmer, who met with Trump in Washington on Thursday, embraced, shook hands, waved and gave a thumbs up to reporters before heading inside the prime minister’s residence for their meeting.
The scheduled London visit comes after Zelenskyy’s blowup with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during Friday’s televised meeting in the Oval Office.
Zelenskyy was peppered with questions from shouting reporters about Trump outside the prime minister’s residence, but remained tight-lipped.
ZELENSKYY SPEAKS OUT AFTER PUBLIC SPAT WITH TRUMP, VANCE, SAYS DUSTUP ‘BAD FOR BOTH SIDES’
Starmer told Zelenskyy when he greeted him: “Well, let me just say that you’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street. And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you with Ukraine for as long as it may take.”
He added, “And I hope you’ve heard some of that cheering in the street. That is the people of the United Kingdom coming out to demonstrate how much they support you, how much they support Ukraine, and our absolute determination to stand with unwavering determination and to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace, a lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine, so important for Ukraine, so important for Europe, and so for the United Kingdom. So I’m much looking forward to discussions here this afternoon. Thank you very much for taking the time to chat.”
Zelenskyy answered: “With pleasure. Thank you very much.”
He added that the British people have given Ukraine “big support from the very beginning of this war.”
Zelenskyy said that he is also “very happy” to be meeting with King Charles III at his residence in Sandringham on Sunday.
TRUMP SAYS ZELENSKYY CAN ‘COME BACK WHEN HE IS READY FOR PEACE’ AFTER FIERY WHITE HOUSE EXCHANGE
Tensions increased during the Oval Office meeting on Friday over a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine after Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted and had breached other agreements.
Trump and Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said the Ukrainian leader was in a “bad position” at the negotiating table.
“You’re playing cards,” Trump said. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.”
After Vance told Zelenskyy Ukraine had manpower and military recruiting problems, Zelenskyy said war means “everybody has problems, even you,” adding the U.S. would feel the war “in the future.”
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump responded. “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House after the exchange, a scheduled news conference was canceled and a deal for Ukraine to give the U.S. its rare earth minerals was left unsigned.
Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for America’s help after the meeting.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” he wrote on X. “Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
The Ukrainian president told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier in an interview after the meeting on “Special Report” that he believes Ukrainian-U.S. ties can be salvaged.
“Yes, of course, because it’s relations more than two presidents,” he said in the exclusive interview. “It’s the historical relations, strong relations between our people. And that’s why I always began … to thank your people from our people.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Of course, thankful to the president and, of course, to Congress,” Zelenskyy added, “But, first of all, to your people … we wanted very much to have all this strong relations and where it counted. We will have it.”
Zelenskyy said he was “not sure we did something bad” when asked about the heated exchange but conceded the dustup was “bad for both sides.”
Fox News’ Madeline Coggins contributed to this report.
