Zelensky accuses Donald Trump of trying to push Ukraine to capitulate

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday of taking steps that, he said, are intended to push Kyiv toward capitulation to Russia, sharply escalating a week-long public dispute between the two leaders.

Zelensky also offered a new proposal to meet Trump’s demand that Ukraine stop targeting Russian oil refineries — a move Washington says is intended to prevent spikes in diesel prices — if the United States supplies additional interceptor missiles for Ukraine’s Patriot air-defence batteries.

Escalating tensions and battlefield consequences

“We have dangerous days ahead of the elections,” Zelensky said, referring to the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. He described his latest offer: “My last proposal was: we will not target Russian diesel facilities, and you give us Patriot missiles to protect our own energy facilities. But they only want us to stop attacking diesel facilities. And if we attack them, they will close something.”

In a recent weekly interview, Zelensky listed a series of hostile measures he says came from the American side, including deliberate slowdowns of the Starlink satellite network that Ukrainian forces rely on for combat operations and delays in deliveries of already limited Patriot interceptors used to defend Ukrainian cities from Russian ballistic missiles.

“I believe steps are being taken to force Ukraine to capitulate,” he told reporters in his Kyiv office. “I am not saying this is the true intention of our partners. I do not want to believe that our American partners think the war against Russia can be finished faster over the back of Ukraine. But that is how it looks.”

Relations hit a new low after Trump reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin in which Washington agreed to forgo a new package of sanctions in exchange for limited releases of Russian diesel onto global markets at lower prices. Trump drew criticism inside his own party when he said Friday evening that he would suspend parts of a new sanctions bill named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

Zelensky said he expects ties with the United States could calm after the elections. “Politics is extremely aggressive during elections,” he added. “I think now we see real agony, but after the elections life goes on and I believe the situation will be calmer.”

Washington for weeks has urged Kyiv to stop striking Russian refineries to avoid pushing fuel prices higher; the U.S. administration says such strikes contribute to diesel-price shocks, although global supplies have been more strongly affected by America’s war with Iran. Ukraine has said it would halt refinery strikes only if Russia refrains from attacking Ukraine’s power grid.

Despite the diplomatic dispute, attacks continued. Ukraine resumed strikes after waiting several days to see whether Russia would adhere to an “energy truce” announced by Trump on social media. Kyiv reported that Russian forces destroyed power substations over the weekend, plunging tens of thousands of households into darkness, while fires at an oil terminal in Saint Petersburg and other industrial sites burned across Russia.

Zelensky also spoke openly about problems with SpaceX, the company of Elon Musk, whose Starlink service is crucial to Ukrainian military communications. Asked who ordered the throttling of the network, Zelensky pointed at “the government, the White House itself,” citing unnamed sources, and said Starlink terminals in Ukraine automatically switch off when a device moves faster than 161 kilometers per hour, while outside Ukraine the system operates without such limits. He warned that new Russian jet drones travel at about 400 kilometers per hour, making them harder for Ukrainian interceptors to track and destroy under the imposed restriction.

He further accused the United States of intentionally delaying delivery of Patriot interceptors that shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, saying Ukraine had paid for the weapons through its PURL programme, including the anti-ballistic missiles. “We paid for this weaponry with our money via the PURL programme, including the anti-ballistic missiles,” he said. “The American side approved only part of these deliveries, while the rest — no. And this is not a technical problem at all.”

Photo: press material from the event