The British ambassador to the US has urged Ukraine’s President to give his “unequivocal backing” to Donald Trump’s initiative to end the war.
Lord Peter Mandelson also said Ukraine should be first to commit to a ceasefire.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, he said there needs to be a “very radical” reset between Washington and Kyiv following Friday’s angry row in the Oval Office.
The top diplomat said: “The reset has to consist of the United States and Ukraine getting back on the same page, and President Zelesnky giving his unequivocal backing to the initiative that President Trump is taking to end the war and to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine.
He added: “The Europeans…need to back the calls for a ceasefire, and by the way, I think Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow.”
The fiery exchange in the Oval Office between Mr Trump and Mr Zelesnky erupted when the Ukrainian president pushed back at suggestions that he should work harder to agree a ceasefire with Putin.
The US leader, and his Vice President JD Vance, responded that he was being “disrespectful”.
Tensions began to boil over when Mr Vance said the “path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy”.
“That’s what President Trump is doing,” he said.
But Mr Zelensky interjected, referencing Russia’s aggression in the years before its full-scale invasion three years ago including a failed ceasefire in 2019.
“Nobody stopped him,” he said of the Russian Presient.
