Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged European Union (EU) leaders to keep financing Kyiv’s fight with nearly $80 billion more next year, as he insisted he was standing up for his country amid a fresh row with United States President Donald Trump.
Kyiv’s ties with Trump have nosedived after the US president eased sanctions on Russia as part of a deal to supply diesel.
Trump branded Kyiv’s actions a “disgrace” and said it was easier to deal with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin than Zelensky, after the Ukrainian leader ordered his forces to resume strikes on Russian refineries.
“I defend the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people exclusively,” Zelensky told journalists after talks with EU leaders in Brussels.
Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for Trump’s domestic woes ahead of the US midterms, Zelensky just smiled.
“This is my answer,” he said, after an extended pregnant pause.
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The latest breakdown between Trump and Zelensky has fuelled fear that the US leader is siding with Russia.
Those concerns have been heightened by disruptions to a critical US-provided satellite system that has hampered Ukraine’s ability to counter Russia’s intense bombardments.
Ukraine uses the Starshield system from Elon Musk’s SpaceX for battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russian-occupied territory and interceptor drones.
It also uses SpaceX’s parallel Starlink civilian satellite system, but not for offensive operations.
Musk – though a virulent Zelensky critic – said his company was not behind the disruption and a US official denied any intervention by Trump.
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