EU leaders to urge Zelensky to tone down criticism of Trump

European Union leaders will urge Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to tone down his criticism of Donald Trump, a British newspaper reported, citing European officials.

Earlier this week, in an interview with the same paper, Zelensky said Trump has a weakness for autocrats and wealthy people. He called the cutoff of intelligence sharing, which left Ukraine unable to counter Russian strikes effectively, dangerous. “Maybe it’s true, but it doesn’t always have to be said out loud,” one of the officials told the paper.

“The message from the 27 leaders will be empathetic but firm,” the paper quoted European officials as saying.

How the criticism began

Zelensky began criticizing Trump publicly after the US president announced an oil deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president called the move a sign of weakness. American senators, six Democrats and six Republicans, also opposed the deal: in an open letter they urged Trump to scrap the agreement and impose sanctions on Russia instead.

The crisis between the two leaders was also fueled by the United States pressing Kyiv to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. When Trump declared an energy ceasefire, which both countries were supposedly to have agreed to, Ukraine stopped the attacks. Russia carried on: just a few hours after the ceasefire was announced, it struck key energy infrastructure in Kharkiv and Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later commented on the ceasefire, saying Trump had not specified this limited halt to hostilities, so Russia had nothing to violate. Trump has not commented on the fact that Ukraine stopped attacking the refineries while Russia kept going.

Intelligence and weapons

Since Trump took office, the United States has stopped funding weapons for Ukraine, which its allies now buy 100 percent on their own. Intelligence is crucial for Ukraine not only for strikes but above all for defending the country. Ukrainians have also had limited access to Starlink, or more precisely to its military arm Starshield. According to Starlink head Elon Musk, that part is controlled by the Trump administration.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz