Most of the papers lead with what the Financial Times calls, external the “deepening rift” between the US and Ukraine.

It says the “war of words” between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky escalated after the American president made what the paper calls “his most overt threat yet to end the war on terms favourable to Moscow”.

The Daily Express calls, external Trump’s attack on Ukraine’s leader “shameful”, while the Daily Mail says, external he appalled the world by calling Zelensky a dictator.

The Guardian says, external President Trump’s comments were “rife with falsehoods”.

The Matt cartoon in the Daily Telegraph, external plays on the legendary honesty of George Washington, who once admitted to his father that he’d cut down his beloved cherry tree with his hatchet. The drawing shows Trump as a child, beside a fallen tree, telling his father: “I cannot tell a lie, the cherry tree started it”.

For its part, the Daily Star pictures, external Trump on its front page as a giant orange poodle, on a leash held by Vladimir Putin.

In its editorial, the Sun calls, external Trump’s attack on Zelensky a “rant beneath the dignity of his office”. It says his job is not just about maximising his country’s profits, but about discerning right from wrong with absolute moral clarity.

The Mail says, external Trump is behaving more like an imperial potentate than the leader of the free world.

But, writing in the i, Patrick Cockburn dismisses the idea that Trump has been hoodwinked by Vladimir Putin, or has betrayed Ukraine. He says: “Much better than perpetually sneering at Trump would be for European leaders to emerge from one of their incessant conferences with an achievable peace plan of their own.”