Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Special European Council in 2023. (Image: European Commission / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 4.0)
The relationship between Washington and Kyiv suffered its worst week of the war, as President Donald Trump openly sided with Vladimir Putin's Russia, lashed out personally at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and raised the prospect of cutting the intelligence and weapons Ukraine depends on to survive.
It began with a diesel deal. On Oct. 9, Trump agreed to import Russian diesel — a move that required waiving key U.S. sanctions and tariffs on Moscow, and that Zelenskyy condemned as "a gift" to Putin which Russia would "repay" with further terror. Then Trump waived additional Russia-related sanctions and tariffs on Friday, hours before they were due to take effect.
Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for high American energy costs, calling the strikes a "disgrace" and demanding Kyiv stop. In an interview with Newsmax's "Finnerty," Trump went further: "Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with," he said. "I'm not a big fan of Zelensky. They've destroyed that country." He added: "He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't," and declared, "I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."
Zelenskyy, long careful to keep his frustrations private, broke cover this week with an unusually sharp series of public criticisms. He said Ukraine would defy Trump's demand and keep striking Russian energy targets, citing Russia's continued attacks on Ukrainian cities. At an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, he asked European leaders for €70 billion — roughly $79 billion — to sustain Ukraine's defense next year, while pointedly thanking the EU Council, the European Commission and "real leaders."
The rupture has raised alarms in Kyiv about the main forms of U.S. support: intelligence sharing, satellite technology, and weapon sales. "At this stage, there is no genuine, fully equivalent substitute for U.S. intelligence or the weapons we purchase with European funds — not receive for free," former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told USA Today. Ukraine is already running dangerously low on U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles, the systems needed to stop Russia's massive aerial barrages.
Analysts say Zelenskyy's decision to go public was a calculated gamble after he felt Trump betrayed Ukraine by cozying up to Putin just as Russia escalates attacks on Ukrainian civilians. "It is a huge risk," said Serhii Plokhy, a Harvard professor of Ukrainian history. "But he is reflecting and articulating the mood in Ukrainian society."
Trump told reporters on Friday he would continue dealing with both leaders. "I want that war to end," he said. And despite the public acrimony, Ukrainian officials say Kyiv wants to keep talking to Trump's envoys, his friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Denys Sienik, Ukraine's chargé d'affaires in Washington, told Newsmax that Ukraine was grateful for Trump's efforts to end the war and willing to engage in talks with Russia.
But the stakes of the feud are existential. Trump could still restrict weapons flows, follow through on threats to stop sharing battlefield intelligence, or strike more economic deals with Moscow — and Ukraine, facing another winter of Russian attacks on its energy grid, has nowhere else to turn for the capabilities only America provides.