Former Romanian President Traian Băsescu has called US President Donald Trump "the butcher from the White House" and claimed he is systematically undermining Ukraine's defences so that Russia can attack the country unhindered.

After U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance staged a tag-team humiliation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at an Oval Office press conference last week, Harvard experts on foreign relations and Ukraine called the spectacle “absurd” and disappointing.

The Trump-Zelensky meeting stunned American observers and was widely celebrated by allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Peter Baker, a veteran journalist and former Moscow correspondent for the New York Times, compared the White House’s decision to Kremlin tactics.

In the aftermath of Friday’s Oval Office debacle, Team Trump apparently expects Volodymyr Zelenskyy to beg for forgiveness — by some accounts, on camera.

The White House called a report that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to revoke the temporary legal status of 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the war as “fake news” on Tuesday. Reuters reported,

The dramatic events at the White House have drawn reactions from many world leaders. The BBC notes that there has been no such reaction from Vladimir Putin. Other Russian politicians have been much less restrained.

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In an Oval Office meeting, Vance and Trump accused Zelenskyy of being "disrespectful." Afterward, Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials were told to leave.

Donald Trump was asked for his reaction after the Kremlin said the White House was largely aligned with Moscow. He didn’t answer — but he didn’t have to.