Trump-Zelenskyy rift deepens: Trump urges a new negotiator as Kyiv complains of delayed arms
United States President Donald Trump has said someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should negotiate on Kyiv's behalf in talks to end Russia's war. The comment came as the rift between the two leaders deepens.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Monday, Trump said Zelenskyy should have settled the war a long time ago and that, if he had listened to him, he would have made a much better deal long ago. He said, 'Maybe it's time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate.'
Trump has been verbally swiping at his Ukrainian counterpart for several days as the rift between the leaders deepens. On Sunday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Zelenskyy does not want to end the war.
Earlier this month he had called for Zelenskyy to be replaced as president and labelled him a 'warmonger' over Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Trump has also defended sanctions waivers for Russia, saying in the same Truth Social post that he wants to keep Moscow at the negotiating table.
Zelenskyy said the decision 'will hurt Ukraine' and strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort.
Trump also announced plans on October 9 for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets to tackle fuel prices that have soared since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February.
The decision has angered not only Kyiv but also European partners and US officials, who say it rewards Moscow while it continues its four-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine.
At a meeting with US senators on Monday, Zelenskyy said decisions taken by the Trump administration 'are hard to explain between friends'. He said arms shipments had been delayed and intelligence sharing restricted.
He said the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that partners have already paid for through the PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) programme. To his knowledge, one missile package was waiting for the signature of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Zelenskyy also said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were awaiting US approval. In remarks posted in a video on Telegram, he said that on three occasions in the past week Ukraine had not received the advance warning of Russian attacks generally provided by its partners.
Last week Zelenskyy suggested a disruption of Starlink services in Ukraine was 'deliberate'. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the claim.
The sparring comes as Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Norway this week for the next round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. Two of the sources said they expected Zelenskyy to attend the meetings. The Oslo discussions are expected to include Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, representatives of the E4 — made up of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland — the European Union and NATO.
