Zelenskyy risks split with Trump as Kyiv resists US pressure

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who is increasingly looking at Kyiv’s battle against Russia primarily through the lens of energy prices ahead of U.S. midterm elections. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speak outside a residential building in Pryluky, on Oct. 8, 2026. (Sergii Volskui, AFP via Getty Images/TNS) By ALIAKSANDR KUDRYTSKI, NATALIA DROZDIAK AND ALBERTO NARDELLI BLOOMBERG NEWS (Tribune News Service) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who is increasingly looking at Kyiv’s battle against Russia primarily through the lens of energy prices ahead of U.S. midterm elections.

Trump sprung an announcement of an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine on Zelenskyy, as the U.S. leader pushes for him to stop bombing Russian oil refineries and defends a controversial deal with Vladimir Putin on diesel exports. After Trump posted on social media about the ceasefire, Zelenskyy said he is willing to accept it, but only if Russia does too — his long-standing position — making clear his significant doubts about that prospect. “It was clear that Putin does not read Truth Social,” Zelenskyy told Warsaw Security Forum via a video link on Monday, referring to Trump’s social media platform. “If Russia doesn’t agree to energy ceasefire — we