US President Donald Trump described his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Thursday (October 15), as a more difficult negotiating partner than Russian Vladimir Putin.
Trump continued in an interview with the American network "Newsmax": "Zelensky is not a good person for us to deal with," and hinted that a peace agreement will not be easy with him, as "he says he wants a settlement, but he does not." “I'm not a big fan of Zelensky,” Trump concluded.
Trump stressed the need to end the war soon, believing that both sides really want to end it, and said: “But I find that dealing with Zelensky is more difficult than dealing with Putin.”
The tension in relations between Trump and Zelensky is not new, as earlier this week Zelensky expressed his disappointment after Trump agreed with Moscow to allow Russia to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the American and global markets in exchange for easing sanctions. Zelensky said in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan: “It is unfortunate that we lose a strong partner.”
In turn, Trump accused Zelensky of raising global oil prices through attacks on Russian refineries, which he described as "shameful." Earlier, Trump called for the Ukrainian president to be removed from office.
As for the Ukrainian president, in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, he called on the United States not to side with the “aggressor,” accusing Moscow of not adhering to the agreement to stop attacks on energy facilities that Trump had announced.
Kyiv accuses Washington of restricting "Starshield" service
Simultaneously with Trump's attack on Zelensky, Kiev is complaining of restrictions in the use of Starshield satellite services designated for military use in operations on the front and in defense, which, according to the Ukrainian army, "hindered" a large part of its air defense activities and the operations of its drones.
“Starshield” is an American satellite system provided by SpaceX, and used by Ukraine for field communications and drone operations.
Elon Musk, the company's owner, was clear, and on Wednesday he held the US government responsible for any slowdown in Starshield, not SpaceX. After that, there was a conflict in information, between media reports stating that there was a “directive” issued by the White House to the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) to restrict the performance of the “Starshield” system for the Ukrainian army and slow down its services, and other reports denying that Trump had issued “such a directive at all.”
On the other hand, the White House did not comment on reporters' questions about whether other government officials had issued such a directive.
In addition, Ukrainian officials reported that the military “Starlink” receivers installed on fast Ukrainian drones suddenly stopped working, which hindered attacks against Russian forces, and affected the operations of shooting down Russian “Shahed” drones.
Europe renews its support for Zelensky
In light of these developments, the Ukrainian President's participation in the European Union summit held today, Friday, has gained additional importance. Zelensky needs additional support from his “loyal” allies more than ever, and not only to meet the urgent need to resupply Ukraine with interceptor missiles and ammunition in the face of the escalation of Russian strikes.
Regarding interceptor missiles, there is a European agreement to provide Kyiv with what it needs. French President Emmanuel Macron stressed, after his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, that it was “extremely important” to provide the means for Kiev to defend itself.
In turn, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk from Brussels published an online message in which he said, “I can assure you, dear Ukrainian friends and President Zelensky: you are not alone.” While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, following a telephone conversation with Zelensky, that the Ukrainian president is leading his people’s struggle for freedom, reiterating “full support.”
A looming financing gap
It is not clear, until now, whether the Europeans will close the large financing gap announced by the Ukrainian Finance Minister, Sergei Marchenko, last September, announcing a deficit in his country’s regular budget for next year worth 32.6 billion US dollars, and another in defense expenditures worth 45 billion US dollars.
These numbers are currently being reviewed by the European Commission.
As a reminder, the declared gap comes despite taking into account the loan program approved by the European Union to support Kiev worth 90 billion euros for the years 2026 and 2027.
For his part, Germany initially announced its readiness to provide additional resources, as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said yesterday, Thursday in Brussels, that "we will have to increase funding here again, in order to provide permanent and effective assistance to Ukraine."
Edited by: Efaq Benkirane
