Zelensky Seeks Greater NATO Support as Starlink Restrictions Strain US Ties

President Volodymyr Zelensky opened his Brussels visit on Thursday, Oct. 15 by meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, urging allies for steady weapons deliveries as Russia continues increasing its strikes on Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure nationwide.

The discussions centered on ballistic missile interceptors, ammunition for Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets and new air defense packages from partners; all critically important as the country prepares for its fifth winter of war.

“All of these are significant challenges, especially against the backdrop of restrictions on Starlink’s operation in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, “which is why it is very important that defense supplies from NATO partners continue.”

The President arrived in Brussels to attend the European Council summit.

His schedule also includes meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, the prime ministers of Poland, Denmark and Belgium, and an audience with King Philippe of Belgium.

On Friday, Oct. 16 he is set to meet the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, as well as the prime ministers of Hungary, Finland and Sweden.

Russian strikes intensify after US ceasefire push

The meeting amid a week of escalating tensions with Washington.

Russia responded to the latest effort by US President Donald Trump to enforce a ceasefire by launching fresh waves of attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, residential buildings and other critical infrastructure.

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According to Zelensky, Russian forces carried out several ballistic missile barrages in recent days while Shahed attack drones remained in Ukrainian airspace almost continuously, with close to 1,000 drones launched since the start of Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Trump declared an immediate energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv on Oct. 11 on Truth Social media, claiming both sides had agreed, and called on Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Although neither strikes formally agreed and Ukrainian authorities appeared to find out about the truce by the news circulating online, Kyiv had refrained from striking Russia’s power infrastructure.

However, Russia increased its strikes significantly in recent days, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying on Oct. 14 that the truce was never defined, so Russia cannot be accused of breaking it.

His remarks came as Moscow’s latest strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv’s power plants left at least 600,000 Ukrainian citizens without electricity.

Zelensky has since lifted Ukraine’s self-imposed pause on those strikes. “The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” he told The Financial Times.

Starlink and intelligence concerns

The pressure on Ukraine’s defenses is growing as Starlink satellite service faces restrictions in the country, making continued NATO supplies especially critical.

Overnight on Oct. 13-14, the US aerospace giant Starlink and its owner Elon Musk tweaked parameters and limited terminals above 160 kilometers per hour (roughly 100 miles per hour), disrupting Kyiv’s drone operations.

The move particularly crippled Ukraine’s key mid-range strike drones, used in strikes on Russian logistics.

It also disabled interceptor drones, used by Ukraine’s Defense Forces against Russian jet-powered Shaheds that are significantly harder to intercept due to their speed, reaching up to 400-600 kilometers per hour (250-370 miles per hour).

“It is clear that the Russians are trying to exploit problems with Starlink’s operation in Ukraine, as interceptor drones rely significantly on this connection,” Zelensky said after meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London.

Around the same time, Musk said on Oct. 14 that the US military – including Trump himself – decides speed limits on Ukraine’s military Starshield terminals, not SpaceX.

US intelligence officials told Ukraine’s embassy in Washington that information sharing would stop immediately if Kyiv kept striking Russian energy targets, The Washington Post reported on Oct. 14, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The source said sharing had not been fully cut off.

Zelensky confirmed the warning reached the military rather than him directly. “They said this to my generals, not to me.”

Trump, for his part, insisted cooperation continues and denied that the US cut off intelligence, although Ukrainian forces received no partner warnings of Russian ballistic missile launches toward Kyiv on two consecutive nights at the beginning of the week.

Concerns about intelligence sharing grew after media reports that US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had warned Ukrainian negotiators during talks in Miami on Oct. 9 that Washington could suspend intelligence sharing should Kyiv continue targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure.

While the Ukrainian delegation was in Miami hoping to reach a breakthrough and broker an end to Russia’s aggression, Trump abruptly announced that he signed a diesel deal with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shortly after, the US Treasury Department authorized the sale and import of Russian diesel fuel through April 7, 2027.

The new license came only three weeks after Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law on Sept. 18, appearing to completely disregard the bill intended to target Russia’s energy and defense industries, as well as networks close to the Kremlin leader.

A bipartisan group of 12 US senators signed a joint letter on Oct. 13, urging Trump to rescind his diesel agreement with Putin, calling it a gift to Moscow and a betrayal of Ukraine.

They also joined Zelensky’s month-long appeals to utilize the sweeping sanctions.