Zelensky speaks to US envoys as Trump lashes out
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky (left) have clashed as the US leader blocked new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow.
PHOTO: AFP
- Zelensky spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to ease tensions and push for peace, while Trump accused him of not wanting to end the war.
- Russia and Ukraine kept striking energy sites, leaving thousands without power in Ukraine and causing fires, deaths, and damage in Saint Petersburg.
- Zelensky urged a “constructive” US approach, asked for Patriot air defence systems, and warned it would be a “historic mistake” if Washington backed Russia.
AI generated
KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with top US envoys on Oct 18 to try to ease tensions, as US President Donald Trump accused his counterpart of not wanting to end the war with Russia.
Zelensky spoke to US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as both Russia and Ukraine hit each other’s energy sites, with Moscow leaving thousands without power and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on Saint Petersburg since the start of the war in 2022.
Trump and Zelensky have clashed as the US President blocked new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow, fuelling fears in Kyiv and Europe that the White House was steering towards Moscow.
A Wall Street Journal report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting on Ukraine with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping – but not Zelensky – has set off more alarm bells.
On Oct 18, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was in the process of negotiating a peace between Russia and Ukraine and making “great progress”, but claimed: “Zelensky doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him... he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
“Zelensky is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States,” he said.
Earlier, after speaking to Trump’s business partner Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner, Zelensky said “a lot depends” on the US position in the war, but “it is clear that there are many things that matter to all of us and this war must be brought to an end”.
Ukraine was ready to work “constructively” and “honestly”, he said.
“We expect exactly this approach from all our partners – both from the Europeans and, of course, from the American side.”
He said he discussed deliveries of US Patriot air defence systems, as Kyiv struggles to counter Russian missiles.
Zelensky earlier told US broadcaster NBC it would be a “historic mistake” if Washington formally supported Russia and that he hoped Trump would “change his decisions”.
But the Ukrainian leader also said he was “thankful” that the US resumed intelligence sharing after a pause that left his country vulnerable to Russian missile strikes.
Children in Ukraine using a flashlight amid a power blackout after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile and drone attacks.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Thousands without power
A US-led push to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II has so far not brought about a breakthrough and Trump has in the past grown frustrated with both Zelensky and Russia’s Putin because of the lack of progress.
Zelensky spoke to the American officials as he accused Russia of breaking Trump’s “energy ceasefire” 76 times and warned that Moscow planned to deprive Ukrainians of heat and electricity before winter.
Russian strikes left “tens of thousands” without power in several regions, he said, with Ukrainian officials reporting that three people had been killed.
Ukraine’s army launched drones at Putin’s home town of Saint Petersburg late on Oct 18, setting an oil refinery ablaze and killing one person, Moscow said.
Russia’s VKontakte social network said its data centre was hit and Ozon – Russia’s second-largest retailer – also reported a strike on its logistics centre.
The head of the wider Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said air defence shot down 144 Ukrainian drones, with state media saying this was the largest attack on the city since the start of the war.
Smoke rising above the city following an air attack on the oil terminal in Saint Petersburg on Oct 18.
PHOTO: AFP
‘Dreadful routine of war’
The Kremlin, however, said Ukrainian attacks on its cities will not change its war aims.
Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine and, in a fifth year of war, few see a way out of the conflict.
“There’s a general feeling: They’re attacking, we’re attacking – it’s become the dreadful routine of war,” said Galina, a 58-year-old resident in Saint Petersburg.
Moscow has rained drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities daily and Kyiv said its strikes are fair retribution.
Sergei, another Saint Petersburg resident who is also 58, said he felt his apartment block shake and quickly realised it was a drone attack.
“I don’t know if I was scared; what must be will be,” he said.
Ukrainian strikes caused nationwide fuel shortages in Russia earlier in 2026. AFP