Ukrainians back Zelensky after a disastrous meeting of the Oval Office

Whether President Volodymyr Zelensky was or not or should not be more diplomatic in the Oval Office, it was a disastrous visit to Ukraine.

For those who follow in Kyiv, the future of their country has hung in balance.

“It was an emotional conversation, but I understood our president,” Yulia tells me near St Sofia Cathedral, with a lot of gold of Kyiv.

“It may not have been diplomatic but it was honest. It’s about life. We want to live.”

Yulia reflects a political model in Ukraine: the larger the country, the more unity.

Before large -scale invasion in 2022, President Zelensky’s trusted rating was 37%. After that, it was 90%.

Before Donald Trump returned to office in early 2025, he was 52%. After blaming Ukraine that he had begun the war, he hit 65%.

“They (Donald Trump and Jd Vance) were so rude,” says Andriy, 30 years old. “It does not respect the people in Ukraine.”

“It seems that Washington supports Russia!” Dmyro observes, 26.

You wonder what the last 24 hours have done to President Zelensky’s popularity.

“When the situation gets worse, we have another meeting around the flag,” explains Volodymyr Panioto, director of the International Sociology Institute in Kyiv, who conducted some of the survey.

The popularity of world leaders often extinguishes over time, and Mr. Panioto says President Zelensky has not been immune.

His evaluations had a hit with the failed counter -offensive of Ukraine in 2023, and his plunder later of the popular chief commander of his armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

But Donald Trump’s new, transactional, often hostile Ukraine’s new approach forced the country to unite and create additional uncertainty.

Last but not least, with his heating in Russia.