Ukraine’s President gave a silent smile when he was asked if he has become a scapegoat in the US midterm elections.
“That’s my answer”, Zelenskyy said in a press conference in Brussels.
In an interview last night President Trump renewed his sharp criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following Kyiv’s decision to resume drone strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Trump branded the strikes a “disgrace” that would drive up global oil prices and claimed he finds the Ukrainian leader “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.
Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to settle” the war, Trump claimed.
It’s a dangerous moment because Ukraine needs US support to survive the war against Russia.
Arriving at the EU summit in Brussels this morning, President Zelenskyy delivered a pointed message to reporters: “I am so thankful that we have such huge support from EU, Council, Commission and leaders. Real leaders,” he said with a wry smile.
But Trump is not Ukraine’s only problem. There are concerns that Ukraine is going to run out of money by next year despite a €90 billion EU loan.
Speaking at the summit, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said “clearly Ukraine’s under pressure, but so is Russia,” he added.
“We have to maintain the pressure on Russia and I think Europe has to be, and I would anticipate a continuing outreach from Europe to the United States, because as far as Europe is concerned, Russia has been the aggressor here from the beginning.”
Other European leaders also strongly backed Kyiv against the pressure from Washington.
The Latvian Prime Minister, Andris Kulbergs, said that “Europe has Zelenskyy’s back,” while the Dutch Prime Minister defended the Ukrainian leader’s decision to speak up against recent US policy shifts.
Addressing the delicate diplomatic balancing act with the White House, Dutch PM Rob Jetten noted: “It is possible to find something unacceptable while still keeping the lines of communication open.”
Zelenskyy said they were working on “mending fences, we are talking with the American negotiating team.”