BRUSSELS, October 17, 2026 — President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a US-backed diesel deal with Russia and defended Ukraine’s right to strike Russian energy sites, drawing sharp criticism from Donald Trump who called the Ukrainian leader difficult to work with.
Zelensky says Ukraine has right to defend itself after Trump calls latest strikes a ‘disgrace’
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated he is “only standing up for Ukraine’s interests” after Donald Trump criticized Kyiv’s strikes as a “disgrace”. Zelensky refused to accept a US diesel deal with Moscow, warning that a gas agreement could follow if he does not stand up to the pressure. Trump described Zelensky as “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” during an interview with Newsmax. Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine is “done” honoring the energy ceasefire after Moscow launched over 100 attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. The war will cost Ukraine €155bn next year, with at least €70bn needed from the EU for defense and weapons according to Zelensky. A fundamental problem for Kyiv is the chronic lack of US-made Patriot missiles to defend its towns and cities this winter. Trump announced a deal to purchase more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel from Russia to try and bring down fuel prices spiked by the war with Iran. Zelensky accused US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence if Kyiv did not go along with Trump’s moratorium on striking energy sites. Russian strikes were reported in nine separate regions of Ukraine Friday, wounding at least 15 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of households without power.
Zelensky seeks backing from EU leaders after bruising week with Washington
Zelensky attended a summit of European heads of government in Brussels Friday, thanking who he called “real leaders” for their support. At the summit, funding for Ukraine and helping it get through another freezing winter – its fifth since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 – topped the agenda. Zelensky said he believed Europe did possess all the interceptors his country would need this winter but described them as being scooped up in a piecemeal fashion. Zelensky said that while Ukraine could produce up to three times more drones, it “simply [doesn’t] have enough money for that”. Zelensky also addressed Ukraine’s frayed relationship with the US, saying there are “many people with good hearts in America” who want “to be allies, not to divide or humiliate Europe”. The US president said he was “not a big fan of Zelensky” and that he was “not a good guy for us to deal with”. “He doesn’t want to settle,” Trump said. “He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t.”. “As you know, Putin hates Zelensky, and Zelensky hates Putin,” he added. “And when you have that kind of hat”. Zelensky said he believed Europe did possess all the interceptors his country would need this winter but described them as being scooped up in a piecemeal fashion.
Escalating tensions threaten US-EU alliance cohesion and Ukrainian defense funding
Trump’s comments about Zelensky, during an interview with US outlet Newsmax on Thursday evening, reflect the deteriorating relationship between the US and Ukraine. The war of words between Trump and Zelensky began last week, when the US president announced a deal to purchase more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel from Russia to try and bring down fuel prices that have spiked due to the war with Iran. An outraged Zelensky told Axios the deal “looks like a happy birthday present” for Putin before accusing US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine about Russian airstrikes if Kyiv didn’t go along with Trump’s moratorium. White House sources, however, told The Post that Putin understood that the cease-fire only covered oil refinerie. After Trump announced Sunday that both Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to refrain from striking each other’s power sources with winter approaching, Zelensky claimed that his country unilaterally honored the deal while Moscow launched more than 100 attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past week. “The block is out,” Zelensky told the Financial Times Thursday while visiting London. “We’re done.”. Moments later, Pavel Malkov, the governor of Russia’s Ryazan province, reported that Ukrainian drone strikes hit a state oil company building, sparking a fire. In response to Trump’s Thursday night comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov agreed Friday that “Zelensky doesn’t want to take responsibility and move toward a peaceful resolution.”. Meanwhile, Russian strikes were reported in nine separate regions of Ukraine Friday, wounding at least 15 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of households without power. Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 644 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea. Kyiv said it would stop the strikes if Russia did the same, but Moscow said it had never agreed to the deal and continued its attacks. After three days, Kyiv resumed its strikes. Trump heavily criticised Zelensky for resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries earlier this week, because it could impact Moscow’s ability to complete its part of the diesel deal, which will see 300,000 tonnes of diesel sent to “the American and global marketplace”. Zelensky accused US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence if Kyiv did not go along with Trump’s moratorium on striking energy sites. Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine is “done” honoring the energy ceasefire after Moscow launched over 100 attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. The war will cost Ukraine €155bn next year, with at least €70bn needed from the EU for defense and weapons according to Zelensky. A fundamental problem for Kyiv is the chronic lack of US-made Patriot missiles to defend its towns and cities this winter. Russian strikes were reported in nine separate regions of Ukraine Friday, wounding at least 15 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of households without power. Zelensky seeks backing from EU leaders after bruising week with Washington. Zelensky attended a summit of European heads of government in Brussels Friday, thanking who he called “real leaders” for their support. “We want to end this war as [quickly] as possible,” the Ukrainian president insisted to reporters in the Belgian capital. “We don’t see now signals from Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war. That’s why we have to prepare for the winter.”. Zelensky said he believed Europe did possess all the interceptors his country would need this winter but described them as being scooped up in a piecemeal fashion. Zelensky said that while Ukraine could produce up to three times more drones, it “simply [doesn’t] have enough money for that”. Zelensky also addressed Ukraine’s frayed relationship with the US, saying there are “many people with good hearts in America” who want “to be allies, not to divide or humiliate Europe”. The US president said he was “not a big fan of Zelensky” and that he was “not a good guy for us to deal with”. “He doesn’t want to settle,” Trump said. “He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t.”. “As you know, Putin hates Zelensky, and Zelensky hates Putin,” he added. “And when you have that kind of hat”. Trump described Zelensky as “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” during an interview with Newsmax. Zelensky refused to accept a US diesel deal with Moscow, warning that a gas agreement could come next. “If I don’t stand up to this… who else will?” he said at an EU summit in Brussels. At the summit, funding for Ukraine and helping it get through another freezing winter – its fifth since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 – topped the agenda. The war will cost €155bn (£131bn; $174bn) next year, Zelensky told the European Council, with at least €70bn needed to come from the EU for defence and weapons. Zelensky said that while Ukraine could produce up to three times more drones, it “simply [doesn’t] have enough money for that”. A fundamental problem for Kyiv – which cannot be easily fixed – is the chronic lack of US-made Patriot missiles to defend its towns and cities. Zelensky said he believed Europe did possess all the interceptors his country would need this winter but described them as being scooped up in a piecemeal fashion. Zelensky also addressed Ukraine’s frayed relationship with the US, saying there are “many people with good hearts in America” who want “to be allies, not to divide or humiliate Europe”. Trump has heavily criticised Zelensky for resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries earlier this week, because it could impact Moscow’s ability to complete its part of the diesel deal, which will see 300,000 tonnes of diesel sent to “the American and global marketplace”. Kyiv said it would stop the strikes if Russia did the same, but Moscow said it had never agreed to the deal and continued its attacks. After three days, Kyiv resumed its strikes. Trump’s comments about Zelensky, during an interview with US outlet Newsmax on Thursday evening, reflect the deteriorating relationship between the US and Ukraine. The US president said he was “not a big fan of Zelensky” and that he was “not a good guy for us to deal with”. “He doesn’t want to settle,” Trump said. “He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t.”. “As you know, Putin hates Zelensky, and Zelensky hates Putin,” he added. “And when you have that kind of hat”. After Trump announced Sunday that both Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to refrain from striking each other’s power sources with winter approaching, Zelensky claimed that his country unilaterally honored the deal while Moscow launched more than 100 attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the past week. “The block is out,” Zelensky told the Financial Times Thursday while visiting London. “We’re done.”. Moments later, Pavel Malkov, the governor of Russia’s Ryazan province, reported that Ukrainian drone strikes hit a state oil company building, sparking a fire. In response to Trump’s Thursday night comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov agreed Friday that “Zelensky doesn’t want to take responsibility and move toward a peaceful resolution.”. Meanwhile, Russian strikes were reported in nine separate regions of Ukraine Friday, wounding at least 15 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of households without power. Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 644 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea. The war of words between Trump and Zelensky began last week, when the US president announced a deal to purchase more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel from Russia to try and bring down fuel prices that have spiked due to the war with Iran. An outraged Zelensky told Axios the deal “looks like a happy birthday present” for Putin before accusing US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine about Russian airstrikes if Kyiv didn’t go along with Trump’s moratorium. White House sources, however, told The Post that Putin understood that the cease-fire only covered oil refinerie. Zelensky accused US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence if Kyiv did not go along with Trump’s moratorium on striking energy sites. Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine is “done” honoring the energy ceasefire after Moscow launched over 100 attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. The war will cost Ukraine €155bn next year, with at least €70bn needed from the EU for defense and weapons according to Zelensky. A fundamental problem for Kyiv is the chronic lack of US-made Patriot missiles to defend its towns and cities this winter. Trump announced a deal to purchase more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel from Russia to try and bring down fuel prices spiked by the war with Iran. Zelensky accused US military officials of threatening to stop sharing intelligence if Kyiv did not go along with Trump’s moratorium on striking energy sites. Russian strikes were reported in nine separate regions of Ukraine Friday, wounding at least 15 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of households without power.
Sources
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- Zelensky says Ukraine has right to defend itself after Trump calls latest strikes a 'disgrace'
- Trump attacks Ukraine’s Zelensky after he says ‘we’re done’ with energy cease-fire: ‘That’s a disgrace’
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Poland (CC BY 3.0 pl)
