Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced opposition on Friday to an arrangement backed by former President Donald Trump that would allow Russia to sell diesel fuel into American and global markets, contending that the terms would channel added revenue to Moscow's active military campaign in Ukraine.
Questions about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was genuinely prepared to negotiate a settlement to the conflict surfaced alongside assessments that the Kremlin's overall approach to diplomacy had so far produced little of substance.
On the sidelines of a Brussels EU summit, Zelenskyy called for a stronger European role in peace negotiations and pressed the bloc for expanded financial and military assistance to Ukraine. He told reporters that funds would begin moving back into Russia through the diesel arrangement and that the deal would fall well short of counterbalancing the Strait of Hormuz's effect on global energy markets.
Zelenskyy attributed the revenue's destination to Putin directly, framing it as a source of material support for the armed conflict already under way. He told reporters that Moscow showed no appetite for ending the conflict through dialogue, alleging that Putin was manipulating language by portraying his side as responsive while, in Zelenskyy's view, no genuine openness to any form of negotiation existed.
The fuel supply arrangement has placed noticeable strain on the relationship between Kyiv and Washington, with one official describing it as bearing little resemblance to a genuine effort to bring the conflict to a close.
Trump attributed rising global energy costs to Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, a position he advanced as the November midterm elections drew nearer. A ceasefire on strikes targeting energy infrastructure in both countries was what Trump put forward as an outcome of talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelenskyy later announced that the arrangement had broken down, pointing to ongoing Russian strikes against Ukrainian power infrastructure as his reason. Ukrainian forces carried out drone attacks on oil-refining facilities inside Russia on Thursday. During a televised interview, Trump called the Ukrainian strikes a "disgrace" and contended that the attacks were driving up oil prices around the world.
Moscow's position, conveyed through an official statement, was that drone strikes carried out against the capital in the weeks surrounding the election had set back any near-term prospect of renewed negotiations.
Zelenskyy put a figure of €155 billion on what the conflict is projected to cost in the coming year, calling on European leaders to commit at least €70 billion of that total toward Ukraine's defence procurement, weapons supplies, and broader resilience efforts. The address, posted to X once it concluded, included an appeal to EU leaders for €70 billion in additional funding — money he said was rooted in practical necessity and intended to cover defence capabilities, weapons procurement, and broader resilience efforts. The appeal for that backing was directed at those present. Zelenskyy added that the measure would serve to constrain Russian actions.
European Council President Michal told a broadcaster that the EU would likely need to provide Ukraine with an additional loan to address a projected gap in its national budget for the coming year, adding that conditions during the previous winter had been extremely harsh and that the next one was expected to bring similarly difficult circumstances.
When Zelenskyy took his place at the summit, he told fellow European leaders they represented what real political leadership looked like. Asked later whether Trump was using him as a scapegoat for rising energy prices and the direction of the Iran situation, Zelenskyy paused at length before responding with a quiet smile, then said only, "This is my answer," a line that drew audible laughter from the audience in attendance.
Disagreements among EU leaders extended to two further matters: how the bloc should respond to energy price increases tied to the conflict with Iran, and how to conclude negotiations on its collective budget. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on Friday that EU member states were nowhere near agreement on the bloc's budget.
Zelenskyy told reporters that outages affecting the SpaceX Starshield satellite network had eased but remained unresolved, adding that the breakdown left non-combatants exposed to harm. Drone coordination and frontline communications in Ukraine run partly through Starshield, a restricted-access satellite network built by SpaceX for defence applications under its Starlink programme.
One administration figure pushed back on the notion that Trump had directed any intentional slowdown of the system, while Trump maintained that intelligence exchanges with Ukraine remained active. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that Europe lacked the near-term ability to replicate what the satellite network provides, adding that Ukraine's armed forces depend on it in ways that cannot currently be substituted. "Europe lacks the means to fill that gap in the near term," she said.
Delegates gathered for the summit while hostilities between Russian forces and Ukraine persisted across multiple fronts. Drone attacks on Kharkiv left three people dead, while a separate wave of strikes knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands of people elsewhere in the country.
