KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainians reacted with shock and anger after an unprecedented verbal altercation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said he supported Zelensky’s demand for United States (US) security guarantees to back any peace deal, warning on X that “ceasefire without guarantees is the way to Russian occupation” of Europe.

Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov praised Zelensky’s “bravery” in “standing up for the honour of our people, who have paid with their blood for freedom”.

Foreign Ministry Andrii Sybiha said Zelensky “has the bravery and strength to stand up for what is right”.

A Ukrainian presidential source accused the US leadership of “openly playing along with Russia”.

“We have great respect for the USA and love the citizens of the USA.”

“But, unfortunately, our friends — the American people — have made a mistake in Trump,” the source said, adding that Ukraine would aim for “a new alliance with European countries”.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, the head of the Kyiv school of economics, said it is still possible the minerals deal that Zelensky had travelled to the United States to sign was still salvageable — as well as Kyiv’s relationship with Washington.

But the scenes from the Oval Office stunned him.

“We are shocked. I am shocked,” he told AFP.

Social media user Oleksandra Povoroznyk said on X that she felt a “panic attack” watching the row, as well as anger against the “pathetic bullies who interrupted Zelensky and tried to shut him up”, referring to US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

“It really is a historic day. The whole world is watching live how a man from a country torn apart by war holds up against two thugs,” said Yarema Dukh, a communication consultant.

Lyubov Tsybulska wrote on Facebook: “In our worst nightmares we could not imagine an American president speaking like this. It felt like an ambush, a deliberate humiliation.”

Russia will “savour this meeting for a long time,” she said.

Sergii Sternenko, a prominent activist, said on X: “I respect the president for facing up to the pressure.”

“We are not a nation that can be bent and sold off.”