"Zelenskyj is described as a troublemaker who is exacerbating the energy crisis"

After Donald Trump's agreement to allow Russian diesel on the US market to push down fuel prices, jokes started in Ukraine that the Americans might now be more inclined to send the Patriot air defense system to Russia instead of Ukraine, so that Vladimir Putin can protect the oil to be sold to the US.

It's not just a joke, but a genuine concern in Ukraine about Trump's oil deal with Putin after the phone call between the presidents. If the US has a vested interest in protecting Russian oil from Ukrainian air attacks, then Ukraine risks losing its most important card in the negotiations for a truce regarding energy infrastructure.

It has been a bloody week in Ukraine with over 100 civilian casualties as a result of Russian airstrikes. Ukraine has continued to attack targets in Russia and in occupied Crimea. Data centers belonging to the Russian internet giant Yandex, in response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian Internet providers, and oil facilities.

The attacks on Russian oil have negatively affected the Russian war economy, but Ukraine is in continued need of American support – both air defenses and increased access to the satellite-based Internet provider Starlink, to better detect where and when Russia attacks.

That Zelenskyi is now described as a troublemaker who is exacerbating the global energy crisis, refuses peace and should also be replaced, puts Ukraine in a difficult position ahead of the winter.