Breaking down the heated exchange between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance at the White House.
The monarch’s audience follows Ukrainian President’s tense US meeting yesterday.
The audience, likely to take place at Sandringham, comes amid a period of political turmoil during which the British Government is increasingly leaning on the Royal family to deploy its unique brand of soft diplomacy.
“Really, I saw a lot of people, and I want to thank you, people of the United Kingdom, such big support from the very beginning of this war, thank you, your team,” the Ukrainian President said.
“And I’m very happy that His Majesty the King accepted my meeting tomorrow, and I’m thankful that you organised such great summit.”
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed in the Oval Office yesterday during a heated exchange. Photo / Getty Images
The King’s meeting with Zelenskyy will follow a summit of European leaders convened in London to discuss the war in Ukraine.
It comes just three days after the King extended an invitation to Trump for an “unprecedented” second state visit.
The King’s official audiences with heads of state take place on the advice of the Government. Such one-to-one meetings usually last around 20 minutes and are considered entirely private, with no written transcript or recording made.
Buckingham Palace does not reveal details of such meetings but is likely to release an advisory, including a photograph of the two men together, afterwards, as per normal practice.
The King first met Zelenskyy in February 2023 at Buckingham Palace, when the Ukrainian President made a surprise trip to the UK to speak at Westminster Hall.
The two men also met at Blenheim Palace last northern summer, during the European Political Community summit.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to 10 Downing Street the day after his tense exchange with US President Donald Trump. Photo / Getty Images
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer hand-delivered an invitation to Trump from the King for a second state visit, considered a highly unusual honour. The monarch also proposed a meeting at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, in Scotland, to discuss the state visit.
Trump accepted the invitation, describing the King as a “beautiful man, a wonderful man” whom he said he had got to know well.
While there is no love lost between the US President and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, he has long been full of praise for the King, Prince of Wales, and the late Queen.
The King first met Trump in the 1980s, when he had tea at Mar-a-Lago during a trip to Palm Beach. More recently, they had tea in June 2019, during Trump’s three-day state visit.
The Prince of Wales met the President in Paris in November for a similarly warm meeting behind closed doors.
The Royal family has repeatedly shown support for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Last April, the Duchess of Edinburgh became the first member of the family to visit Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, travelling to the country to “show her solidarity” with the men, women and children affected by the war.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire amidst the rubble of a building following Russian shelling in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine on February 21. Photo / Getty Images
She met Zelenskyy and Olena Zelenska, the first lady, delivering a message on behalf of the King.
Two months earlier, the King issued a strongly worded message to mark the second anniversary of the conflict, speaking of the “indescribable aggression” that has faced Ukrainians since what he called the “unprovoked attack on their land”.
Last February, the Queen welcomed Zelenska to Clarence House for a meeting during which they discussed the bravery and resilience of Ukrainians and the UK’s determination to support the nation.
In March 2023, the Prince travelled to Poland on a “personal mission” to praise British troops working near the Ukraine border for “defending our freedoms”.
During the King’s first state visit to France in September 2023, he used a historic speech at the Senate to highlight the “unprovoked aggression” on our continent and the “resolute solidarity” in which both the UK and France stood with Ukraine.
And during a visit to Germany six months earlier, he praised both nations for their joint efforts to provide “very welcome and very important” military support for Ukraine now that the “scourge of war” had returned to Europe.
The King has also visited Ukrainian military recruits training in Wiltshire.
