# Trump v Zelenskyy: the view from Ukraine – podcast

Presented by  with ; produced by , , ; executive producer 

## Mon 3 Mar 2025 22.00 EST

What do Ukrainians make of the two presidents’ fractious meeting – and would they support a Trump-led peace deal? Luke Harding reports

This weekend’s fractious Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and  had much of the world talking. But what do Ukrainians make of the meeting, their president, and a possible Trump-led peace deal?

The Guardian’s senior international correspondent **Luke Harding** has been in  for much of the last three years. He tells **Helen Pidd** that most Ukrainians are supportive of Zelenskyy’s approach, are in no mood to hold an election, and are experiencing a similar sense of “us against the world” that they experienced in February 2022, at the start of Russia’s invasion.

Joining a Black Sea boat patrol off the coast of Odesa, Harding explains how many in the military do not see their fight as being over and are in no mood to agree to any loss of territory. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that the US is a much less reliable ally than Ukraine’s European neighbours and that substantial security arrangements will be needed if there is to be any lasting peace. According to blogger and analyst **Alex Kovzhun**, European states are finally starting to realise that Ukraine’s fight is their fight and that this conflict will only really end in Moscow itself.

Ultimately, says Harding, the pessimism held by Trump about Ukraine’s position is not something that many in the country share.



Photograph: ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

## Highlights

- **Ukraine**
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- **Today in Focus**
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- **Volodymyr Zelenskyy**
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- **Donald Trump**
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- **US foreign policy**
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- **Russia**
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- **Europe**
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