{"id":2849,"date":"2026-10-17T16:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T11:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2849"},"modified":"2026-10-17T16:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T11:03:48","slug":"trump-zelenskiy-rift-threatens-vital-support-for-kyiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2849","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Zelenskiy rift threatens vital support for Kyiv"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

From US threats to cut off intelligence support for Ukraine to a diesel deal<\/a> that could help Russia fund its war, it has been a bad week for ties \u200bbetween Kyiv and its most important ally, Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frustrated by high energy costs he blames partly on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Ukrainian President \u200cVolodymyr Zelenskiy.<\/p>\n

A disruption of US-provided satellite internet services raised fears that Ukraine could be vulnerable as it prepares for another winter of Russian attacks<\/a> on its energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy responded to Trump\u2019s barbs with an unusually sharp<\/a> series of public criticisms of Trump, suggesting the US was now favouring Russia.<\/p>\n

He said Ukraine would defy Trump\u2019s demand to stop striking Russian energy targets, citing Russia\u2019s continued attacks.<\/p>\n

The widening rift has sparked concerns that Trump and Zelenskiy\u2019s tumultuous relationship could lead to even worse outcomes for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Trump could \u200byet restrict the supply of weapons to Ukraine, follow through on threats to stop sharing battlefield intelligence, or strike more economic deals with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Despite Zelenskiy\u2019s remarks, Kyiv wants to continue dialogue with Trump\u2019s \u200benvoys, his friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, two Ukrainian officials familiar with the talks said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Denys Sienik, charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires at \u2060Ukraine\u2019s embassy in Washington, told Newsmax on Friday that Ukraine was grateful to Trump and his team for their efforts to end the war and said Ukraine was willing to engage in talks with Russia.<\/p>\n

Trump told reporters \u200bon Friday he would continue to deal with both Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. \u201cI want that war to end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Missed opportunity\u2019: Former US official<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Daniel Fried, the senior State Department official on Europe from 2005 to \u200b2009, said it was unclear whether Washington was making a lasting shift away from Ukraine, but the fallout was damaging prospects for an end to the war that began with Russia\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only a missed opportunity, but it also causes genuine suffering in Ukraine and encourages Putin to continue the war, so it\u2019s not cost-free,\u201d said Fried, now at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s relationship with Zelenskiy has long been uneasy. Trump and US Vice President JD Vance publicly upbraided Zelenskiy during an \u200bOval Office meeting in February 2025.<\/p>\n

Washington has paused or slowed military assistance to Ukraine under Trump, while allowing European allies to purchase US weapons for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

The relationship had steadied until Ukraine\u2019s strikes this year on \u200benergy sites in Russia began contributing to rising fuel prices.<\/p>\n

High gasoline and diesel prices are a political headache for Trump ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections, in which his Republican Party could lose its majorities in the US Congress, according to \u200canalysts.<\/p>\n

Experts say \u2060that the surge in energy costs is mainly the result of the US-Israeli war with Iran<\/a>, which brought Iranian attacks on energy facilities and has largely shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Frustrated by Zelenskiy, however, Trump turned to Russia to increase fuel supply and contain prices, according to a person familiar with the internal debate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Trump said on October 9 he had reached a deal with Putin to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian fuel and import Russian diesel.<\/p>\n

<\/a>High stakes for Ukraine<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For Kyiv, the stakes are high and immediate. Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine had received no warning from Western partners before a deadly Russian attack<\/a> on the capital.<\/p>\n

Without \u200bUS intelligence, Ukraine could face greater difficulty detecting and \u200bcountering Russian missile and drone attacks, particularly against \u2060energy infrastructure that Moscow has repeatedly targeted during previous winters.<\/p>\n

Trump has said the US is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine. But Zelenskiy told NPR that US officials had warned Ukrainian commanders that intelligence could be reduced or cut off.<\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Starshield system, the military-grade version of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink service, was disrupted<\/a> after what two US officials and a Western \u200bofficial briefed on the matter said was an order originating from the White House<\/a>, Reuters reported on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The service has been partially restored, but the episode highlighted \u200bthe vulnerability created by Ukraine\u2019s \u2060dependence on technology controlled by US companies and subject to decisions by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

That dependence gives Trump potential leverage as he pushes Kyiv toward negotiations with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Trump may face resistance if congressional Republicans see his approach as weakening Ukraine while benefiting Russia.<\/p>\n

Ukraine retains support among Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans, some of whom argue that<\/a> Washington should not pressure Kyiv into accepting a settlement on terms favourable to Moscow.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy\u2019s tough responses to Trump were risky, but he may be counting \u2060on a power \u200bshift on Capitol Hill after the midterm elections to make it harder for Trump to ease sanctions on Russia and further reduce \u200bmilitary assistance to Kyiv, said Brett Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser in the Obama administration and head of the Global Situation Room consultancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cZelenskiy knows who he\u2019s dealing with,\u201d he said. \u201cTrump\u2019s threats don\u2019t have the same kind of effect as they did when JD Vance \u200btried to shame him in the Oval Office.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From US threats to cut off intelligence support for Ukraine to a diesel deal that could help Russia fund its war, it has been a bad week for ties \u200bbetween Kyiv and its most important ally, Washington. Frustrated by high energy costs he blames partly on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Ukrainian President \u200cVolodymyr Zelenskiy. A disruption of US-provided satellite internet services raised fears that Ukraine could be vulnerable as it prepares for another winter of Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure. Zelenskiy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}