King Charles has offered Ukrainian President Vlodimir Zelensky an olive branch after the monarch announced a meeting at his country retreat.
The King is set to welcome Zelensky to Sandringham on Sunday, just days after the Ukrainian premier’s public spat with US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance in the White House. As fears of a deepening trans-Atlantic rift grow between the US and Europe following the unprecedented scenes in the Oval Office, King Charles will hold talks with Zelensky, reports The Sun.
During the heated exchange in the Oval office on Friday, Trump also accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” and told him that he should be “thankful” to the US. The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the meeting between the two leaders at the Oval Office on Friday seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the US could be confirmed as a reliable partner in helping to fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.
King Charles has previously given his full backing to Ukraine, calling Russia’s invasion “indescribable aggression” and an “unprovoked attack on their land.”
Ukraine had walked into a meeting at the White House on Friday prepared to sign a mineral deal with the US, hoping it would be a step towards a just ceasefire, but left empty-handed.
The exchange saw the frustrated Ukrainian president lectured by Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous US support.
It delighted officials in Moscow who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader.
In a series of posts on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said his people are “very grateful to the United States for all the support”, and specifically thanked Mr Trump and Congress alongside the “American people”.
UK PM Keir Starmer will meet Zelensky on Saturday afternoon before hosting a defence summit for European leaders on Sunday.
