Ukraine-U.S. relations strained, not broken following tense Oval Office meeting, experts say

Despite an explosive exchange in the Oval Office, the Kyiv-Washington relationship is not lost, analysts say, but future U.S. support in the war effort is still undetermined.

Less than a week after rallying to show support for their fellow Ukrainians on the three-year anniversary of the war with Russia, Anna Tselukhina and her organization are preparing to come together again.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) will host what it is calling an emergency rally Sunday afternoon in downtown Calgary in response to the Friday meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During the testy and heated exchange in front of cameras in the Oval Office, Trump told Zelenskyy to make a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine or “we’re out.”

Trump and Vance also accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War III” and told him he must be more grateful for U.S. assistance in the fight against Russia’s three-year siege.

“This is our way to raise up our voice and say that Ukraine is not just a flag, not just those rare metals somewhere underground, but Ukraine are people who know, who understand, who feel, who want their home to be free and independent,” Tselukhina said.

She says Ukrainians who fled to Canada because of the war are disappointed with how the meeting went down.

The UCC called Trump and Vance’s behaviour “disgraceful” and a “shameful attack.”

Zelenskyy, who was in Washington to finalize an economic agreement granting the U.S. ownership of some rare earth minerals in Ukraine, left the White House without signing a deal.