Zelensky still ‘traumatized’ by Trump’s February scolding, seeks European backing for US talks

Reports in U.S. and Russian media claim Zelensky was left “traumatized” by a combative February meeting with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance over U.S. access to Ukrainian mineral resources and even his trademark military‑style attire, with an anonymous EU official telling Politico he sought explicit European backing before the December 28 Mar‑a‑Lago talks, which produced agreed U.S.–Ukraine security guarantees even as Trump later angrily echoed Putin’s allegation that 91 Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian president’s Novgorod residence, a claim Zelensky rejects as a pretext for new strikes on Kyiv.