US President Donald Trump has renewed his sharp criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader is “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.
Trump, who recently made a controversial deal with Moscow to import its diesel to the American market, called Ukraine’s fresh wave of strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace”.
Zelensky had paused the attacks for three days at Trump’s request for a ceasefire on energy targets, but said on Thursday they would resume because Moscow had never stopped.
Tensions between Washington and Kyiv have escalated recently over the US-Russia diesel deal and restrictions on Ukraine’s satellite communications on the battlefield.
Zelensky has not commented on Trump’s latest criticism, however thanked “real leaders” for their support as he arrived at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday.
He was flanked by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
“Of course we supported President Trump’s energy ceasefire but we’ve seen that Russia did not respect it, not a single minute,” Von der Leyen told reporters, adding that sanctions on Russia “have to increase”.