Category: International News

A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 5 rejected the Trump administration’s request to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress frozen.

However, the court did not immediately say when the money must be released, allowing the White House to continue to dispute the issue in lower courts.

The order was unsigned but four conservative justices dissented – Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. That put five justices in the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The majority noted that given a court-ordered deadline to spend the money last week had already passed, the lower courts should “clarify what obligations the government must fulfil to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order.”

In a strongly worded dissent, Alito wrote that he was “stunned” by the court’s decision to permit the lower-court judge to order the administration to unfreeze the foreign aid at issue in the case.

Alito added: “A federal court has many tools to address a party’s supposed nonfeasance. Self-aggrandizement of its jurisdiction is not one of them.”

While the ruling was 5-4, it was “extremely modest,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Centre.

“The unsigned order does not require the Trump administration to immediately make up to $2 billion in foreign aid payments; it merely clears the way for the district court to compel those payments, presumably if it is more specific about the contracts that have to be honoured,” Vladeck said. “The fact that four justices nevertheless dissented – vigorously – from such a decision is a sign that the Court is going to be divided, perhaps along these exact lines, in many of the more impactful Trump-related cases that are already on their way.”

The appeal raced to the high court within days – exceedingly fast by the federal judiciary’s standards. It is the second case to reach the justices dealing with Trump’s moves to consolidate power within the executive branch and dramatically reshape the government after taking power in January. At the centre of the case are billions in foreign aid from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development that Trump froze in January as he sought to clamp downon spending and bring those agencies in line with his agenda. Several nonprofit groups that rely on the funding for global health and other programs sued, asserting that the administration’s moves usurped the power of Congress to control government spending and violated a federal law that dictates how agencies make decisions.

In a brief on Friday, the groups described the administration’s actions as having a “devastating” impact.

They told the court that the funding “advances US interests abroad and improves – and, in many cases, literally saves – the lives of millions of people across the globe.”

“In doing so, it helps stop problems like disease and instability overseas before they reach our shores,” the groups said.

US District Judge Amir Ali on February 13 ordered that much of the money continue to flow temporarily while he reviewed the case. Days later, the plaintiffs argued that the administration was defying that order and continuing to block the spending and Ali then ordered the Trump administration to spend the money at issue by midnight Wednesday.

Ali was named to the bench by President Joe Biden.

The Trump administration rushed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court hours before that deadline, urging the court to at least pause it for a few days. The administration is making “substantial efforts” to review payment requests and spend the money, the government argued, but it couldn’t turn the spigot on fast enough to meet Ali’s timeline.

The groups that sued have baulked at that explanation, arguing that a small number of political appointees within the administration “are refusing to authorize essentially any payments.”

“The government has not taken ‘any meaningful steps’ to come into compliance,” the groups said in a Supreme Court filing earlier Friday.

Roberts, acting alone, gave the administration a brief reprieve on Wednesday, issuing what’s known as an “administrative stay” that pushed pause on the case so that both sides could submit written arguments. The chief justice handles emergency cases rising from the federal appeals court in Washington, DC. Among the groups challenging the freeze are the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, a New York-based organization working to speed HIV prevention and the Global Health Council, based in Washington, DC, which represents other groups that administer health programs.

The Trump administration revealed in court filings in the case that it is attempting to terminate more than 90% of the USAID foreign aid awards.

“In total, nearly 5,800 USAID awards were terminated, and more than 500 USAID awards were retained,” a filing from the administration said.

“The total ceiling value of the retained awards is approximately $57 billion,” the filing said.

In addition to the USAID award terminations, “approximately 4,100 State awards were terminated, and approximately 2,700 State awards were retained,” the government told a lower court, referring to the State Department.

Aid programs around the world have ground to a halt due to the sweeping funding freeze and review of billions of dollars of assistance. It also comes as the Trump administration has either placed the majority of USAID’s workforce on leave or terminated them.

Democrats celebrate ruling
On Capitol Hill, Democrats said the ruling shows that Trump’s power to freeze spending is not unlimited.

“That money had already been appropriated, things were already in action, and so I think the Supreme Court ruled the right way, and now the administration needs to unfreeze them and allow those contractors and the work to be done,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal called it “a very important ruling” from “a Trump-dominated court.”

“I think it reinforces … that Congress has authorization to appropriate money, and that people rely on that authorization for those programs, and that when you do the work, you should get paid when it’s been authorized,” the Washington state Democrat told CNN.

Asked if she’s confident the payments will be turned on, Jayapal said she’s not confident about anything, “but I hope that the Trump administration will pay attention to the Supreme Court.”

A Russian missile attack on a hotel has killed four people in President Zelensky’s home town in Ukraine.

The attack in Kryvyi Rih happened as Zelensky prepares for a summit with European leaders in Brussels.

The summit, which begins on Thursday morning, will aim to boost European support for Ukraine.

On Monday, the US suspended military aid to Ukraine – even equipment that is already in Poland can not cross the border.

Last night, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “I want to believe the US will stay at our side, but we must be ready if that is not the case.”

The Oval Office row, a handshake with King Charles, and now back to Brussels – it has been a busy, bruising week for Zelensky, writes Daniel Wittenberg from Belgium.

David Paradang, former Nigerian Immigration Service boss, under whose watch the NIS recruitment exercise claimed about 20 lives in 2014, is dead. Mr Paradang died in Joy House Hotel in downtown Abuja on Monday after hosting a woman in his hotel room, the police said, dismissing reports that kidnappers killed him.

“On March 3, 2025, at approximately 12:00 p.m., Mr Parradang arrived at Joy House Hotel, Area 3 Junction, driving a black Mercedes Benz. He checked into the hotel, paying a sum of twenty-two thousand naira (N22,000) for one night’s stay.

“Shortly thereafter, he directed the hotel room attendant to escort a female guest who had come to visit his room. This lady left the hotel premises around 04:00 p.m. of the same day,” the police said in a statement by its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh.

It added, “Mr. Parradang did not exit his room after the lady left. Around 04:00 a.m. of March 4 2025, a friend who is a military officer, concerned for his wellbeing, traced him to the hotel. Upon arrival, the hotel receptionist and the officer proceeded to his room, where Mr Parradang was found deceased, seated in a chair.”

The police said Mr Paradang’s body had been transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja, for necessary procedures, and the hotel staff members were cooperating with officers in the ongoing investigation.

Also, the police authorities said efforts were ongoing to identify the lady who visited the ex-immigration boss.

In 2014, an NIS recruitment exercise conducted under Mr Parrandang’s watch claimed 20 lives after the process resulted in a stampede.

Mr Parrandang ventured into politics after retirement from NIS. He contested a senatorial seat in 2019 and for Plateau governorship in 2023.

Republican Congressman Tim Burchett tells the BBC that America will no longer be “the world’s peacekeeper” as they are “going to have to protect our own”.

Speaking on The World Tonight, he says: “We’ve done a poor job of protecting our own borders and we’ve stretched our fiscal ability very thin with this war, and we’ve done enough, and it’s time for everyone else to step up.”

Burchett describes the minerals deal with Ukraine, which would see the US gain access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, as “a masterful move by Trump” and says the presence of American civilians would guarantee Ukrainian security.

“When we start getting the minerals out of there, Russia will not want to harm a hair on an American businessperson’s head,” Burchett explains.

Burchett also welcomes Donald Trump’s decision to suspend arms shipments to Ukraine: “It’s not our war. It’s Europe’s war. We’ve funded this thing from day one. The American taxpayers have.

On Putin, Burchett says: “Putin’s a no-good thug. There’s no question there. But again, here we are messing in somebody else’s business.”

US President Donald Trump has addressed a raucous joint session of the US Congress for the first time since he returned to power in January, declaring: “America is back.”

He outlined his vision for his second term, as Republicans applauded a high-octane first six weeks that has reshaped domestic and foreign policy.

Trump was heckled by Democrats and he goaded them in turn during the rowdy primetime speech, which was themed the “renewal of the American Dream”.

In his first six weeks in the White House, the Republican president has moved to slash the federal workforce and crack down on immigration, while imposing tariffs on America’s biggest trading partners and shaking up the trans-atlantic alliance over the war in Ukraine.

Here are six takeaways from his speech.

‘Thank you, Elon’

Trump name-checked his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who was watching from the gallery, early in his speech.

The tech mogul’s Department of Government Efficiency taskforce has moved to fire tens of thousands of federal workers, cut billions of dollars in foreign aid and slash programmes across the US government.

The SpaceX and Tesla boss stood and acknowledged the cheers from the crowd.

“Thank you, Elon,” Trump said. “He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this.”

“Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe,” Trump said, referring to Democrats. “They just don’t want to admit that.”

Trump went on to list some examples of wasteful spending he said had been eliminated by Musk’s cost-cutting initiative, drawing laughter from Republicans.

“Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of”, Trump said.

Democratic lawmakers held up signs saying “Musk steals” and “false”.

Doge claims to have saved $105bn already but that figure can’t be indepedently verified. Receipts have been published for $18.6bn worth of savings but accounting errors have been reported by US media outlets which have analysed the figures.

An ‘important letter’ from Zelensky

Trump said he had received an “important letter” from Ukraine’s leader earlier in the day, which appeared to match what Volodymyr Zelensky posted publicly on social media.

Ukraine’s president had said he was now ready to work under Donald Trump’s “strong leadership” to end the war and “come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer”.

“I appreciate that he sent this letter,” Trump told lawmakers.

Zelensky offered the olive branch a day after Trump paused all military aid to the beleaguered US ally.

It following an acrimonious Oval Office meeting last week when the two leaders argued in front of TV cameras, before cancelling plans to sign a minerals deal that would allow the US to profit from an economic partnership involving Ukraine’s resources.

Trump was reportedly hoping to announce during his speech to Congress that the deal had been signed. But it did not materialise.

Democrats heckle the president

Democrats began disrupting the proceedings even before Trump took to the podium. As he entered the chamber, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico held up a sign saying: “This is not normal.” It was ripped out of her hands by a Republican colleague.

And then, within the first five minutes of the address, Al Green of Texas was escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms after refusing to comply with the House Speaker’s demands that he stop heckling the president and take his seat.

As Trump spoke, other Democrats held up signs saying “False” and “This is a lie”.

With Republicans in control of the White House, House of Representatives and Senate, Democrats have been largely leaderless as they work to hone their message and counter the blitz of activity from the Trump administration.

Many Democratic women arrived in the House chamber wearing pink pantsuits in protest. Dozens from their party – some of them wearing the words “Resist” printed on the backs of their shirts – turned away from the president and exited the chamber during his speech.

“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realise there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” Trump said, appearing to revel in the partisan rancour.

Democratic leadership chose Elissa Slotkin of Michigan – a first-term senator elected in a battleground state that Trump won in November – to deliver the party’s official response.

Biden blamed for egg prices

The soaring cost of eggs has been headline news in recent weeks, and Trump – who had pledged to voters that he would beat inflation on his return to office – made clear who he felt was responsible.

“As you know, we inherited, from the last administration, an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare,” Trump said.

“Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control – and we are working hard to get it back down,” he added.

Egg prices soared under Biden as his administration directed millions of egg-laying birds to be culled last year amid a bird flu outbreak, though prices have continued rising in Trump’s fledging presidency.

Inflation was slightly elevated at 3% last month, but way down from its peak of 9.1% in 2022.

Cost of living remains a political thorn in Trump’s side, with only one in three Americans approving of his handling of the issue, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey on Tuesday.

Trade war will cause ‘a little disturbance’

Following a second day of market turbulence, Trump played down the potential economic fallout from a trade war he ignited this week, including 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% on Chinese imports.

But in contrast with the ovations that greeted his other policy objectives, many Republicans remained seated, a sign of how Trump’s import taxes have divided his party.

“Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again,” he said.

“And it’s happening. And it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that. It won’t be much.”

Trump also took aim at the EU and countries including Brazil, India and South Korea over what he called “unfair” practices.

He added that reciprocal tariffs tailored to US trading partners would “kick in” on April 2.

Earlier in the day, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Trump could announce a trade deal with Mexico and Canada as soon as Wednesday.

“I think he’s going to work something out with them,” Lutnick said on Fox Business.

A child’s dream comes true

In one of the most viral moments of the night, Trump offered a surprise to a child diagnosed with brain cancer whom the president said aspired to become a policeman.

The boy, 13-year-old DJ Daniel, was held up by his father as Republicans and attendees in the House gallery chanted “DJ.”

Trump announced DJ would be sworn in by his new Secret Service director as a member of the force.

A stunned DJ then received a Secret Service badge from the agency’s director Sean Curran, one of the agents who rushed onto stage to protect Trump during the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania in July.

Donald Trump says Ukraine is ready to begin peace negotiations “as soon as possible”, with strong signals Russia is also ready for a deal.

During an address to Congress, the US president read aloud a letter he said he’d received from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, which was similar to a message posted on X earlier in the day.

“I appreciate that he sent this letter,” Trump said.

The tone offered a hint of a possible cooling of the acrimony between the two leaders, our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher writes.

Meanwhile, the UK defense secretary is flying to Washington for a meeting with his US counterpart on Thursday – Ukraine is expected to be top of the agenda.

Mark Zuckerberg has sacked 20 Meta employees after they leaked information to the media following the tech giant’s pivot towards US President Donald Trump.

The firings come just weeks after comments made during internal meetings by Zuckerberg and other senior employees appeared in news reports.

‘We tell employees when they join the company, and we offer periodic reminders that it is against our policies to leak internal information, no matter the intent,” a Meta spokesperson said, confirming the job losses.

“We recently conducted an investigation that resulted in roughly 20 employees being terminated for sharing confidential information outside the company, and we expect there will be more,” the company added.

“We take this seriously and will continue to take action when we identify leaks.”

Meta, which owns social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram, has faced internal dissent since Zuckerberg announced a number of policies which critics have claimed were designed to cozy up to the new Trump administration.

This included scrapping DEI initiatives and removing fact-checking efforts in favour of community notes similar to those used on X.

Due to the frequent leaks, Zuckerberg told employees he would no longer be forthcoming with information.

“We try to be really open, and then everything I say leaks. It sucks,” Zuckerberg said in a meeting first reported by The Verge.

Somewhat ironically, Zuckerberg’s remarks were then leaked to the press, and this led to Meta issuing a company-wide memo warning staff that revealing information to the press was a sackable offence.

Meta chief information security officer Guy Rosen, in a memo seen by the New York Post, said: ‘When information is stolen or leaked, there are repercussions beyond the immediate security impact.

“Our teams become demoralised, and we all waste time that is better spent working on our products and toward our goals and mission.” Meta’s chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth, later said the company was “making progress on catching people”.

This was then also leaked to the press.

Zuckerberg has previously warned his employees to ‘buckle up’ for the coming year and said that Meta would be a productive partner with the White House.

Tech leaders have broadly fallen in line around Trump since he won the election in November 2024, with Zuckerberg making a particular turn towards the Republican since his return to office.

Zuckerberg has multiplied his advances towards Trump, who last summer threatened the tech tycoon with life imprisonment after Meta excluded the president from Facebook in January 2021 for encouraging the assault on the Capitol.

The CEO and founder has dined with the Republican on several occasions, donated to the president’s inauguration fund, eased up on content moderation, and ended Facebook’s US fact-checking programme in an effort to draw closer to the new Republican leadership in Washington.

His longtime political affairs boss was also replaced by a prominent Republican, and he named Trump ally Dana White to his board after the US election.

The measures align with the conservative views of the president and his allies, as well as masculinist entertainers and personalities like Elon Musk.

On the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg complained that “a lot of the corporate world is pretty culturally neutered” and that embracing masculine energy is good”.

These most recent firings come on top of the roughly 4,000 workers laid off earlier this month who were classified as ‘low performers.’

The cuts amounted to about five per cent of the company’s workforce.

Zuckerberg said he expects an ‘intense year’ ahead as Meta competes with rivals to develop advanced artificial intelligence products and signaled that the company would hire new workers to replace the ousted employees.

President Donald Trump directed his administration to “pause” military aid to Ukraine after the contentious Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28, two White House officials told ABC News.
A White House official said Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace and added, “We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well. We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

The move came hours after Trump told ABC News that Zelenskyy needed to be “more appreciative.”
Senior Politics Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump on Tuesday: “What do you need to see from President Zelenskyy to restart these negotiations?”
“Well, I just think he should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin,” the president responded.
It’s difficult to know exactly how the pause could impact the flow of previously granted aid.
In the last few months of former President Joe Biden’s administration, it announced four Presidential Drawdown Authority packages to Ukraine.

The packages totaled $3 billion in weapons from the Pentagon’s inventory, and they were meant to be provided to Ukraine as quickly as possible following the announcements in December and January.
About 90% of arms committed to Ukraine by past PDA packages have already been delivered to the country, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
That includes the vast majority of critical munitions and anti-armor systems, they say, adding that most of the what’s left to go through the pipeline are armored vehicles that take longer to refurbish, with all PDA equipment previously on track for delivery by August 2025.
However, a steady flow of arms is still set to move from the U.S. to Ukraine for at least the next several years due contracts Kyiv signed with private American companies for newly produced weapons. Many if not most of those contracts have been paid.

The Trump administration could still attempt to disrupt those shipments through the use of emergency authorities, but there’s no indication it is trying to do that at present.
Additionally, there is still a chance for negotiations to resume between the U.S. and Ukraine, as Vice President JD Vance implied during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday.
Vance was asked if the administration would welcome Zelenskyy back if he were willing to come back to the negotiating table. Vance said yes — if Zelenskyy were willing to “engage seriously.”
“I think that if he called and had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in the process — look, there are details that really matter, that we’re already working on with the Russians,” Vance said.
“He needs to engage seriously on the details,” he added, though it was unclear if he was strictly referring to the raw minerals deal that the U.S. is pursuing with Ukraine, land concessions or other details that may be impacting negotiations.

“I think once that happens, then absolutely, we want to talk,” the vice president said.
Also in dispute is the amount of aid that the U.S. has already given Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly claimed, inaccurately, that the United States has spent some $350 billion toward Ukraine, while other sources put the figure well under $200 billion, including bilateral aid.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a four-point plan to work with Ukraine to end the war and defend the country from Russia.

The UK, France and other countries will step up their efforts in a “coalition of the willing” and seek to involve the US in their support for Ukraine, he said on Sunday – after calling a summit of 18 leaders – mostly from Europe and including Volodymyr Zelensky – three days earlier.

“We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said after the summit while Zelensky said Kyiv felt “strong support” and the gathering showed “European unity at an extremely high level not seen for a long time”.

It comes two days after a fiery exchange between the Ukrainian leader and US President Donald Trump in the White House.

“We are all working together in Europe in order to find a basis for cooperation with America for a true peace and guaranteed security,” Zelensky said after the summit.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron told Le Figaro newspaper that Paris and London wanted to propose a one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”.

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the meeting of leaders, Starmer said four points had been agreed:

• to keep military aid flowing into Ukraine, and to keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia
• that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security and Ukraine must be present at any peace talks
• in the event of a peace deal, to boost Ukraine’s defensive capabilities to deter any future invasion
• to develop a “coalition of the willing” to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee peace afterwards

Starmer also announced an additional £1.6bn ($2bn) of UK export finance to buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles. This comes on top of a £2.2bn loan to provide more military aid to Ukraine backed by profits from frozen Russian assets.

“We have to learn from the mistakes of the past, we cannot accept a weak deal which Russia can breach with ease, instead any deal must be backed by strength,” he said.

The prime minister did not state which countries had agreed to join this coalition of the willing, but said that those who had committed would intensify planning with real urgency.

The UK, he said, would back its commitment with “boots on the ground, and planes in the air”.

“Europe must do the heavy lifting,” he said, before adding that the agreement would need US backing and had to include Russia, but that Moscow could not be allowed to dictate terms.

“Let me be clear, we agree with Trump on the urgent need for a durable peace. Now we need to deliver together,” Starmer said.

When asked if the US under Trump was an unreliable ally, he said: “Nobody wanted to see what happened last Friday, but I do not accept that the US is an unreliable ally.”

Countries at the summit included France, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Norway, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Finland, Italy, Spain and Canada.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that there was now an urgent need to “re-arm Europe”.

These sentiments were echoed by Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said the meeting had seen European countries “stepping up” to make sure Ukraine has what it needs to “stay in the fight as long as it has to continue”.

After the summit, Zelensky went to Sandringham where he met King Charles III. He later spoke to reporters at a final press briefing where he said he was ready to sign a deal on minerals with the US.

Ukraine was expected to sign the deal – which would grant the US access to Ukraine’s rare mineral reserves – during Zelensky’s visit to Washington, but the Ukrainian delegation ultimately left early after a heated confrontation with Trump in the Oval Office.

Earlier on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned a deal on minerals between the US and Ukraine could not be signed “without a peace deal” with Russia.

But when asked by the BBC about the future of the deal following the summit, Zelensky said it was ready to be signed.

“The agreement that’s on the table will be signed if the parties are ready,” he said. Sunday’s summit concludes a hectic week of diplomacy, which included visits to Washington by Macron, Starmer and Zelensky.

Zelensky’s meeting, however, culminated in a heated exchanged with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance, in which the US president accused his Ukrainian counterpart of “gambling with World War Three”.

Trump has said he wants to end the war in Ukraine and has expressed trust in Russian President Vladimir Putin, to the consternation of many of his Western allies.

The US has also begun peace talks with Russia – excluding Ukraine.

At one point, the US leader accused Ukraine of starting the war – even though it was Putin who launched a full-scale invasion of Russia’s neighbour on 24 February 2022.

“Bruised but motivated,” was how one of Volodymyr Zelensky’s entourage described how they had been feeling, as a small group of journalists crammed into what felt like an even smaller room at Stansted Airport.

The British state had done its best to give the Ukrainian president “all bells and whistles” when he arrived in the UK for a summit with 18 world leaders after his dressing down by Donald Trump and JD Vance on Friday night, a government source told me.

He shared an embrace with Sir Keir Starmer outside No 10, where he was greeted with spontaneously cheering crowds, and met with King Charles for tea.

But it was telling that in the 90 minutes before his plane’s wheels went up as he heads back home, Zelensky wanted to go on the record to make his arguments to the world – this time speaking only in Ukrainian – to make sure he was not misunderstood.

Having been slammed in the White House, then feted in the UK, his mood, in public at least, was not downhearted.

“If we don’t keep our spirits up, we’re letting everyone down,” he said.

He made positive noises about Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to grab hold of the plans for peace before presenting them to the US, for Europe to up its game, developing its own more convincing security guarantees.

Zelensky told me he would be prepared to give Donald Trump one of his demands – to sign the minerals deal that would give the US access to some of Ukraine’s resources.

Beyond that, despite all the pressure of a three-year war, under all the demands from the White House which, fairly or not, has the power to protect or abandon his country, on Sunday night Zelensky stood firm.

He told us it was wrong at this stage to discuss giving up territory Russia has captured, and it was too early to be “talking about lines”, which the prime minister had mentioned earlier.

He would not apologise to Trump or express regret for anything that happened in the Oval Office, which at the moment, the US president’s camp is repeatedly calling for.

Even the boss of Nato called for Zelensky to find a way to reset his relationship with the US leader.

Yet in the stuffy room at Stansted, there was not much in Zelensky’s tone that suggested he was interested in making nice. He said he had travelled for hours to get to the White House – his visit was a mark of respect. He also said he would never “insult anybody” and the conversation as it erupted had not been a positive for anyone.

Zelensky chose his words very carefully. He tried to an extent to avoid a post-mortem of what went on. He was not rude about Trump – he barely mentioned him by name – and suggested tensions would pass.

If you watched the full horror of what happened in the Oval Office you may well not blame Zelensky for feeling it’s simply not for him to say sorry.

If you listen to him talk about what has happened to his country, you can understand why it feels so impossible at this stage for him to acknowledge compromises might have to come to end the war.

Watching him in person talk about the violence and the suffering that has been unleashed, you sense his total disbelief that anyone might not see the world his way, where Russia’s aggression means Putin must not be spared punishment, and his people should be protected at all costs.

But the reality? Neither Zelensky nor any Western leader so far has persuaded Trump to adopt that moral clarity on this war. And even if it’s painful, without a willingness to compromise, it’s hard to see an end to this war.

Zelensky is though, a master communicator – genuine, doubtless, but also a performer by trade.

“Our freedoms and values are not for sale,” a message of no surrender Zelensky wanted to communicate, along with a willingness to sign the minerals deal.

He again expressed his thanks for the backing of the US and other countries. But don’t forget right now, for all of the encounters we have with the leaders involved in public, there are so many more between them and their teams behind closed doors.

Just when our conversation was coming to an end, a suggestion that Macron and Sir Keir were proposing a month-long truce as part of their plan for peace reached my phone.

Did President Zelensky know and would he agree such a deal, I asked.

“I am aware of everything,” he joked, getting a laugh in the room, then offering handshakes and photos on his way out to the plane.

He may have wanted to have had the last word at the end of a dramatic and difficult weekend. But the conversation about this conflict has many weeks, if not many months to run.