Trump criticizes Ukraine; Zelensky accuses US of delaying weapons deliveries
Trump said Ukraine has given "nothing" in return for U.S. aid; Zelensky says U.S. delays in Patriot and other missile deliveries signal a political decision.
On October 20, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Ukraine for what he described as a lack of reciprocity for American support, renewing tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
Trump presses Zelensky; offers summit with Putin and Xi
Speaking in Washington, Trump said: "We gave Ukraine a lot, and it gave us nothing. Don't forget that." He added that "Maybe it's time for Zelensky to hand the negotiations over to someone else," and said Russia, when it comes to Ukraine, "behaves 'completely correctly' and 'is not doing much'."
Trump also expressed willingness to hold a trilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the APEC meeting in China in November.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by accusing the United States of delaying weapons deliveries. At a meeting with a delegation of the U.S. Congress, Zelensky said delivery delays and restrictions on intelligence sharing "are hard to explain between friends." He singled out Defense Minister Pit Hegset, saying Hegset has not approved shipments of Patriot missiles and other air-defence munitions even though NATO member countries have already paid.
Zelensky warned that "All this indicates that a political decision has been made to reduce support for Ukraine."
A senior official at the U.S. Department of Defense rejected those accusations, telling international news agencies that there have been no changes to the program by which NATO countries purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine and that intelligence-sharing arrangements remain unchanged.
Photo: press material from the event
