In a recent interview, President Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Zelensky declared that Ukraine would no longer adhere to Trump’s request to avoid targeting Russian energy sites.
“If Zelensky is back to attacking refineries, all that’s doing is pushing the world oil price higher,” Trump remarked during his conversation with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty. “I think that’s disgraceful. There are plenty of other targets they could focus on.”
Trump further labeled Zelensky as “not a good partner for us” at a time when the White House is trying to revive discussions aimed at ending Russia’s ongoing invasion of Eastern Europe led by President Vladimir Putin.
“Honestly, I believe both would prefer for this to be over,” he added. “But I find Zelensky to be more challenging to negotiate with than Putin.”
After Trump announced a tentative agreement on Sunday between Moscow and Kyiv to avoid attacking each other’s energy supplies with winter approaching, Zelensky claimed that his nation was upholding the arrangement unilaterally, despite Russia launching over 100 attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities within the past week.
During a visit to London, Zelensky told the Financial Times, “The block is out. We’re done.”
Following this exchange with Trump, which came after a brief period of improved relations, Zelensky attended a summit with European leaders in Brussels, where he praised them as “real leaders.”
In a response to Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov expressed agreement, asserting that “Zelensky doesn’t want to take responsibility and move toward a peaceful resolution.”
Meanwhile, Zelensky insisted to reporters in Brussels, “We want to end this war as quickly as possible. However, we don’t see any signals from the Russian side indicating they are ready to resolve this conflict. That’s why we need to prepare for the winter.”
On the ground in Ukraine, Russian assaults were reported across nine different regions on Friday, resulting in injuries to at least 15 individuals and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Additionally, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 644 Ukrainian drones over various regions, including Crimea and the Black Sea.
