Trump Again Blasts Zelenskyy As Europe Seeks 'Massive Surge In Defense'

The United States piled more pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fall into line with Washington's push for a deal to end fighting in Ukraine, while European leaders sought to carve out a stronger role after the Ukrainian president's disastrous visit to the White House late last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested his patience was running out, criticizing Zelenskyy's resistance to the prospect of a quick cease-fire in Russia's war against Ukraine without the kind of concrete security guarantees Kyiv has been seeking from the United States.

"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!" Trump wrote in a social media post that linked to an Associated Press story whose headline quoted Zelenskyy as saying the end of the war in his country is "very, very far away."

"It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing," Trump wrote.

The March 3 post on Trump's Truth Social platform suggested that mending ties with the White House, as European leaders have urged Zelenskyy to do, will be a difficult task following a vocal clash in the Oval Office in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy on February 28.

Zelenskyy left the White House early after the heated argument in front of reporters. An agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine's rare minerals and natural resources was left unsigned, and Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelenskyy could "come back when he is ready for Peace."

SEE ALSO: Why Did Zelenskyy Reject Calls For A Quick Cease-Fire In The Russia-Ukraine War?

Since the debacle, which added to questions about the future of U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine to support its defense against the Russian invasion, U.S. officials have urged Zelenskyy to apologize and echoed Trump's suggestion that he must show that he is ready for peace.

"What we need to hear from President Zelenskyy is that he has regret for what happened, he's ready to sign this minerals deal, and that he's ready to engage in peace talks," White House national-security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on March 3.

Zelenskyy "should be more appreciative, because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin," Trump told reporters at the White House later in the day.

Asked if the minerals deal was dead, Trump said, "No, I don't think so." Asked about reports that he was considering halting military aid to Ukraine, he said, ""I haven't even talked about that right now. I mean, right now, we'll see what happens. A lot of things are happening right now as we speak."

The Oval Office altercation has reverberated across the globe and particularly in Europe, throwing the chances of securing a cease-fire or peace deal that would not leave Kyiv and the rest of the continent vulnerable to renewed Russian aggression deeper into doubt.

Leaders across Europe moved to take more control of potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and ensure security across the continent after the recent flurry of diplomacy appeared to collapse with the rupture of relations between Trump and Zelenskyy.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on March 3 that there were a "number of options on the table" for a cease-fire agreement to at least temporarily halt fighting sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago.

The statement came after French President Emmanuel Macron told the newspaper Le Figaro that he thought a one-month truce on air, sea, and energy infrastructure would give allies time to assess Russian President Vladimir Putin's commitment to a full and lasting cease-fire.

Meanwhile, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on March 3 that she would inform member states about a "rearm Europe plan" as European governments scramble to mitigate their growing differences with the United States over the war in Ukraine.

"We need a massive surge in defense, without any question. We want lasting peace, but lasting peace can only be built on strength, and strength begins with strengthening ourselves," von der Leyen said.

France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend the European leaders' summit to discuss European security and Ukraine, at Lancaster House in London, Britain, March 2, 2025.

More than a dozen leaders from around Europe, Canada, Turkey, and NATO met for a summit in London on March 2 to round off a busy diplomatic week.

Absent from the conference was any representative of the United States, although Starmer said before the summit began that the United Kingdom, France, and Ukraine “and possibly one or two others” would be working on a peace plan they would discuss with Washington.

The sight of Zelenskyy and Trump -- who said the Ukrainian leader was being "disrespectful" to the United States and putting everyone at risk of causing World War III -- arguing in front of live TV cameras over Russia's three-year full-scale invasion of the country has clearly shocked Europe's leaders.

'Manufactured Escalation,' Says Germany's Merz

In some of the strongest European comments yet on the White House standoff, Germany's likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, referred to what he called "manufactured escalation" at the meeting, a thinly veiled criticism of Trump and his administration.

"It was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelenskyy, but obviously a manufactured escalation in this meeting in the Oval Office," Merz told a news conference in Hamburg on March 3, adding that Europe "must now show that we are in a position to act independently."

Despite intense and ongoing discussions on boosting Europe's own defense capacities, and alarm over warming rhetoric between Moscow and Washington, European leaders say engaging the new U.S. administration is a priority as the United States -- a major contributor of military aid to Ukraine -- must be part of the negotiations.

SEE ALSO: How Realistic Is A European Peace-Keeping Force In Ukraine?

Merz said he would "advocate doing everything to keep the Americans in Europe."

Both Starmer and Macron pleaded with Trump not to abandon Ukraine and to take a strong line on Russia during separate visits to the White House last week, while crediting the U.S. president's plans for a quick peace to end the war.

Those meetings were before Zelenskyy's Washington debacle, which ended in him returning home early without having signed a deal on critical minerals with the United States that Trump had billed as a cornerstone of future cooperation.

Trump said after the failed talks that Zelenskyy "is not ready for Peace if America is involved" and that "he can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Polish Cold War hero Lech Walesa and a group of former Polish political prisoners jumped in to defend Zelenskyy in a letter to Trump on March 3 that expressed "horror" at how the meeting devolved.

"We watched your conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy with horror and distaste," the letter said.

"We consider your expectations regarding showing respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States to Ukraine in its fight with Russia to be offensive...Gratitude is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed blood in defense of the values of the free world."

Will European Aid Be Enough For Ukraine?

Zelenskyy enjoyed a far warmer welcome in London at the weekend than in Washington, agreeing with Starmer a 2.26 billion pound ($2.84 billion) British loan for Ukraine that Zelenskyy said “will be repaid using revenues from frozen Russian assets.”

SEE ALSO: Can The EU Stay Relevant In Ukraine Talks?

But can European assistance ever be enough to compensate for a potential financing shortfall from the United States -- the single biggest contributor of military aid to Ukraine -- now that relations between Washington and Kyiv are at their lowest point in the past decade?

“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump told Zelenskyy during the testy Oval Office exchange.

Zelenskyy, for his part, characterized Putin as “a killer” who could not be trusted to maintain a cease-fire without firm security guarantees from the United States, which Washington is yet to provide.

Zelenskyy has said he still believes the bilateral relationship can be salvaged, despite the standoff appearing to scupper for the moment a framework deal between Kyiv and Washington for Ukraine's critical minerals and post-war reconstruction.

European and Canadian leaders pose for a group photograph with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (front row, second from right) at the Lancaster House summit in London on March 2.

"Of course, we understand the importance of America, and we are grateful for all the support we have received from the United States," the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address on March 2.

"There hasn't been a single day when we haven't felt grateful. Because this is gratitude for the preservation of our independence: Our resilience in Ukraine is built upon what our partners do for us and for their own security," he added.

"There will be diplomacy for peace. And for the sake of all of us standing together -- Ukraine, the whole of Europe, and most necessarily America."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (right) visits Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida's Palm Beach. (file photo)

But it is still unclear what that will look like, and the rhetorical divide across what Trump calls "a big, beautiful ocean" is only serving to cloud the picture.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on March 3 that Paris viewed a one-month cease-fire "to determine whether Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith” as a potential starting point.