Ukraine president targets Trump, Putin at EU summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces a difficult winter ahead as relations with the US worsen.

The full report

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was applauded by EU leaders when he appeared at the Brussels summit, but his relationship with the US is worsening. Zelenskyy's visit to Brussels comes at a time when he needs European support more than ever. His relationship with the US is deteriorating due to concerns that the US is becoming more sympathetic to Russia.

Experts view the upcoming cold season as a rough one for Ukraine. "Ukraine is arguably entering the most difficult winter since [Russia's] full scale invasion ," said Olena Prokopenko, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The three main topics discussed at the summit were US relations with Russia, Starlink, and money.

Zelenskyy's relationship with the US has become more difficult since the start of Donald Trump's second term in the White House. President Trump told US news channel Newsmax that he finds Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump also labelled Zelenskyy's decision to order Ukrainian forces to conduct fresh strikes on Russia's oil refineries as "a disgrace."

Zelenskyy is asking Europe to supply the military power Ukraine needs to get through the winter. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has been the biggest military donor to Ukraine. However, the relationship between the two countries has become more difficult since the start of Donald Trump's second term in the White House.