Zelenskyy says Ukraine should be heard, not forgotten

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday it was "very important" that Ukraine's plight was heard and not forgotten, a day after a heated White House meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"It is very important for us that Ukraine is heard and that no one forgets about it, neither during the war nor after," he said in a social media post alongside footage of a meeting with the Ukrainian community in Washington.

"It is important for people in Ukraine to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world."

Zelenskyy had seen the Oval Office meeting on Friday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance as a chance to win more support for Kyiv's war effort against Russia.

But the meeting descended into acrimony and drove relations with Kyiv's most important wartime ally to a new low.

The White House clash divided the US president's fellow Republicans and dimmed prospects that Congress will approve any further aid for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

Some Republicans who had long supported Ukraine lashed out at Zelenskyy after Friday's exchange, in which Trump and Vance berated the Ukrainian leader before the world's media, accusing him of disrespect.

Senator Lindsey Graham called for Zelenskyy to change his tune or resign, just hours after attending a friendly meeting between Zelenskyy and a dozen senators.

"He either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change," the South Carolina senator said.

Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who was ambassador to Japan during Trump's first term, posted on X: "The United States of America will no longer be taken for granted."

But even as most Republicans rallied behind Trump and Vance, some joined Democrats in defending Ukraine.

New York Representative Mike Lawler, in a post on X, called the Oval Office meeting "a missed opportunity for both the United States and Ukraine — an agreement that would undoubtedly result in stronger economic and security cooperation."

Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, threw his support behind Kyiv.

"A bad day for America's foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom," he said in a statement.

Neither of the Republican lawmakers criticized Trump or Vance.