European leaders reaffirm support for Kyiv as ceasefire collapses
President Donald Trump told Newsmax in an interview aired Thursday that Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries are “a disgrace” and that he finds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “more difficult to deal with than Putin.” Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since last week, with US efforts under Trump to end the war producing no progress.
“All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that’s a disgrace,” Trump told the network. “There are a lot of targets you can hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he’s not doing a good service for the world.”
Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries after Zelenskyy said Kyiv was abandoning a ceasefire Trump had declared the previous week — a truce that neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to. Relations between Kyiv and Washington had already soured after Trump eased sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel onto global markets.
Zelenskyy criticized the diesel agreement, which was widely interpreted as an attempt to curb high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, saying it would allow Russia to press on with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than four and a half years ago. Repeating his assessment of the two leaders, Trump told Newsmax: “I’m not a big fan of Zelenskyy. I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.”
This week, Ukraine said Starlink satellite services had been restricted, an action that in effect hobbled Ukrainian drone strike missions and crucial air defences. During a visit to London, Zelenskyy said the sudden restriction of Starlink had left him feeling personally betrayed by Trump and lamented losing a partner.
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on Thursday that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had assured him in a face-to-face meeting that the satellite communications system had been restored. In an interview with the BBC, Streeting said it was unclear what had caused the disruption, but added: “This is not the first time we’ve seen a falling out between Washington and Kyiv.”
European leaders publicly backed Zelenskyy. After meeting with him in Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “crucial” that Ukraine receive “all the means necessary to protect itself.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted online: “I can reassure you, dear Ukrainian friends and President Zelenskyy: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”
Zelenskyy met NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels and held a string of bilateral meetings before he was set to join an EU summit on Friday. While meeting Macron, Zelenskyy said the Kremlin had “launched yet another vile drone strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure” in the city of Lutsk, causing blackouts. The Kremlin separately accused Ukraine of derailing US peace efforts by resuming its strikes on refineries.