Ukraine’s former armed forces chief, who led the charge against Russia’s invasion for the first two years of the war, has spoken out against the Trump administration for throwing the world order into utter chaos.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., spoke at a conference at Chatham House in London on Thursday, where he decried the Trump administration for “destroying” the current order as it stands.
“The world order now is all but ruined,” he said.
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“It’s obvious that the White House has questioned the unity of the whole Western world and now Washington is trying to delegate the security issues to Europe without participation of the U.S.,” he said.
The comments come at the height of tensions between the United Stated and Ukraine, and after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance clashed with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in a very public White House catfight. Zelensky has attempted to mend the relationship after Trump cut military aid and intelligence-sharing due to the beef.
Despite the attempt to ease tensions, Zaluzhnyi warned the White House is taking more and more “steps towards the Kremlin” and praised Ukraine for holding strong despite “animus and threats coming even from friends.”
“We see that it’s not just the ‘axis of evil’ and Russia trying to revise the world order, but the U.S. is finally destroying this order,” Zaluzhnyi said.
Zaluzhnyi spent three years as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces before becoming Kyiv’s ambassador to London in March 2024.
He is a successful figure in Ukraine, and according to the BBC is seen as a potential successor to Zelensky, with a 70 percent approval rating to Zelensky’s 57 percent.
Elections, however, are paused as the war rages on under martial law.
In the meantime Europe is stepping up in America’s absence, announcing a significant boost in defense spending after the European Union’s emergency summit in Brussels this week.
“Today marks a defining moment for Europe,” President António Costa said in a statement.
“This is a tipping point for Europe. And today, we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge. Building the Europe of Defence and standing with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder. Because, at the end of the day, what we all want, what we all deserve, what we are all working for, is peace and security.”
