Zelensky Vents Frustration With Trump --- Ukrainian leader called out the White House for relaxing pressure on Moscow

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was on an overnight train and in a gloomy mood when he decided to take on President Trump.

 

News reached Zelensky and his advisers on the train from Kyiv to Poland late Tuesday that Russian missiles had pounded Kyiv without the usual U.S. warning of a missile launch for the second day in a row, a person present said.

 

In recent days, Trump had eased energy sanctions on Moscow, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, piled pressure on Ukraine and called for Zelensky's removal. The Ukrainian president feared more concessions to Moscow were coming, the person said.

 

For 18 months, since a disastrous Oval Office meeting with Trump, Zelensky had been trying to court him. Now he signaled to those around him that plain speaking was needed, the person said.

 

Zelensky, traveling to meet European allies in London and Brussels, decided to publicly criticize Trump's approach, despite the risk of angering him further. He wanted to send a message to the public in the U.S. and Europe: Ukraine would defend itself however it needed to, and it wasn't to blame for high global fuel prices.

 

The Ukrainian leader used scheduled interviews with British media on Wednesday to criticize Trump's expressed preference for dealing with Putin and moves to relax economic sanctions on Moscow. "I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin," Trump said last week.

 

"Putin," Zelensky told the Financial Times. "How can Trump be friends with him? I think that it's a mistake. It's his choice again and again."

 

Zelensky's pushback follows the arc of other European allies' dealings with the U.S. president since his return to the White House.

 

A series of clashes over trade, events in Ukraine, the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the U.S. war with Iran and threats to seize the Danish territory of Greenland have led even once-close political allies in European capitals to distance themselves from Trump this year.

 

Zelensky risks further blowback from Trump for criticizing him. But the stakes for Ukraine are far higher. Europe's poorest country receives valuable U.S. support in three areas: intelligence-sharing, Starlink contracts, and sales of U.S. weapons and ammunition to Europe for use in Ukraine.

 

Trump cut virtually all other U.S. support for Ukraine in 2025. This month, he announced a deal with Putin to supply diesel to the U.S. and global markets, saying it would help bring down diesel prices. Then, on Friday, he waived most sanctions against Russia that were set to be levied under a bipartisan bill he signed last month.

 

The moves drew bipartisan criticism for weakening economic pressure on Moscow.

 

When Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" on Oct. 11 surprising both Kyiv and Moscow, Zelensky ordered a pause in the strikes.

 

"That's it," Zelensky told the Financial Times, as Ukraine ended its pause after three days.

 

Trump hit back in an interview with Newsmax on Thursday.

 

"Zelensky's not a good guy for us to deal with," he said. "He says he wants to settle but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelensky."

 

Ukraine couldn't stay silent over Trump's diesel deal with Putin, Zelensky said on Friday as he joined a summit of European leaders in Brussels. Next, Trump would do a gas deal, and then lift sanctions on other business dealings with Russia, he said.

 

Inside the summit, Europe's heads of government hugged Zelensky as he arrived.

 

None asked him to tone down criticism of Trump, European officials said.

 

Late Friday, Trump signed an order halting the implementation of most of the sanctions that were to be imposed on Russia under a bipartisan bill passed in September. The law, named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), authorized heavy tariffs on third countries that buy Russian oil.

 

Early Saturday, Zelensky said on social-media platform X he regretted the decision "to completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this conflict to an end."

 

"This Act could have helped enormously -- and it still can," he said.” [1]

 

1. World News: Zelensky Vents Frustration With Trump --- Ukrainian leader called out the White House for relaxing pressure on Moscow. Walker, Marcus; Gramer, Robbie.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 19 Oct 2026: A6.