Stunned European leaders reiterated their support Friday for Ukraine while in the war-torn country residents reacted with dread after President Donald Trump dramatically rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a shorter-than-anticipated White House visit. 

What was expected to be a cordial sit-down meeting among Zelensky, Trump and Vice President JD Vance – and a prelude to a money deal to extract rare earth minerals in Ukraine – turned into a remarkable shouting match over continued U.S. support in the country’s three-year-old war with Russia 

Trump repeatedly berated the Ukrainian leader as “not ready for peace,” for having “disrespected” the United States and for “gambling with World War III.” 

Vance chided Zelensky for not being thankful enough. 

“Have you said, ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting?” he asked. 

The press conference scheduled to take place after the meeting was hastily cancelled and Zelensky, after an interview on the Fox News Channel, headed home, posting on social media, “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit.”

Such a confrontational public meeting is essentially unheard of in diplomatic circles, in fact televised appearances are almost always pre-negotiated and highly choreographed (in fact, Vance accused Zelensky of using the forum to sway public opinion.)

“It’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,” the vice president said.

The events were widely applauded by Trump’s backers (after the meeting, the White House issued a press release with more than 50 statements of support from top GOP figures).

But in Europe, most leaders took the opposite stance, expressing almost unanimous support for Zelensky and Ukraine – though it remains far from clear whether those statements will translate into enough material support for Ukraine to continue its war with Russia if the U.S. completely pulls its financial and military aid. 

In France, President Emmanuel Macron praised the West’s decision to help Ukraine at the start of the war in 2022.

“We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago,” wrote Macron, who was in Washington to meet with Trump earlier in the week. “By ‘we’ I mean the Americans, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese and many others.”

Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – whose party was soundly defeated in elections last Sunday – said “Ukraine can rely on Germany, and on Europe.” 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (“You are never alone, dear President Zelenskyy”), Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (“Ukraine, Spain stands with you”), and Poland’s Donald Tusk (“Dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone”) added their voices to the chorus. 

In the hours following Zelensky’s “thank you” message made upon exiting the White House, he retweeted some three dozen statements of solidarity from world leaders, each one with the statement, “Thank you for your support.”

Noticeably absent from the list of leaders publicly stating support as of late Friday were Italy’s Giorgia Meloni (both a strong supporter of the Ukrainian cause and a close ally to Trump), Hungary’s Viktor Orban (another key Trump ally in Europe and a supporter of Russia’s Vladimir Putin), and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (who wrapped up what was by most accounts a constructive trip to Washington earlier on Friday).

In Ukraine, the news of their leader’s visit was met with disbelief and trepidation. Ukrainians, sparked by the knowledge that at best their cause will be badly crippled by the almost certain departure of the United States, the country that up to Friday had been their biggest supporter.  

“I’m just crying because of what I hear,” one Ukrainian lawmaker reportedly said.