Trump Again Criticizes Zelenskyy, Says Open To Meeting With Putin And Xi
by RFE/RL · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · JoinUS President Donald Trump suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should not be involved in negotiations to end the full-scale war Russia launched against his country in 2022, the latest statement in which Trump has voiced doubt about Zelenskyy's commitment to seeking peace.
The remark came amid concerns in Ukraine over a series of moves that Zelenskyy has said would play into Russian President Vladimir Putin's hands. In the past two weeks, Trump has announced a deal encouraging Russian diesel exports, and waived sanctions that were about to be imposed under a law he signed last month.
"Zelenskyy doesn't know what he's talking about," Trump said when asked about Zelenskyy's criticism of the sanctions waiver. "To be honest, I think it's time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine."
Trump did not repeat a call he made on October 10, when he said Ukraine should "get a new leader who can make a deal."
Amid the tension, a US and a Ukrainian source speaking on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL that Ukrainian negotiators are expected to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, in Norway later this week to discuss efforts to advance peace negotiations.
One source said Zelenskyy is considering attending the talks. Preparations are ongoing, and final details have yet to be confirmed, the sources said.
In a video posted on social media earlier in the day, Zelenskyy said Ukraine hoped to meet Witkoff and Kushner “perhaps in Norway, in the coming days,” adding that there was “a lot to discuss about the diplomatic process.”
Most of the US talks with Ukraine have involved Witkoff and Kushner and negotiators dispatched by Zelenskyy, not the Ukrainian president himself. Neither Zelenskyy nor Putin has attended any Ukraine-Russia talks on ending the war.
Trump also said on October 19 that he is open to holding a trilateral meeting with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an APEC summit next month in China.
"If President Xi wants to have it, I'd have it," Trump said. But he said the main purpose of the meeting would be to discuss "nuclear weapons and denuclearization," not Russia's war against Ukraine.
"I would do it, not so much for Ukraine, because Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven't been doing much," Trump told reporters when asked if he would attend a meeting with Putin and Xi to discuss Ukraine.
In addition to the diesel deal and the sanctions waiver, US-Ukraine ties have been strained by problems with Starlink and Starshield satellite communications systems crucial to Ukraine's defenses and concerns that the US was not warning Ukraine about imminent Russian strikes.
"Unfortunately, we did not receive early warning from our partners about the first wave of Russia’s ballistic missile attack last night," Zelenskyy said in an October 19 Telegram post about an online meeting with US legislators from both parties.
"Furthermore, we continue to face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in various sectors of the front line," he said. "The American side has provided no explanation to Ukraine regarding either of these issues."
Zelenskyy said he told the US lawmakers about a Russian drone attack that killed six people in a park in a town in the Kharkiv region, including a woman and her 1-year-old daughter.
He also said "the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of [air defense] missiles" already paid for by European countries under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program.
According to Zelenskyy, the shipment is awaiting the signature of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down the support for us," Zelenskyy added.
Last week Kyiv also said there had been no warning from the United States of similar strikes, leaving little time for residents to take shelter.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, attending a meeting of Central Asian countries in Uzbekistan, denied on October 19 that there had been any suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
"There has been no pause," Rubio told reporters in Uzbekistan when asked about Ukraine's claims, calling on Zelensky to "focus" on ending the war with Russia.
Trump signed an executive order late on October 16 that waives new sanctions mandated by legislation named for the late US senator Lindsey Graham, an ardent supporter of Ukraine, days after giving temporary relief on Russian diesel sanctions.
Trump signed last month at the urging of lawmakers who want to pressure Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
But the moves in recent days to ease sanctions have sparked fierce criticism from many corners that Trump was giving the Kremlin a chance to fund its war machine, an accusation the president rejected.
"I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table," Trump wrote on Truth Social on October 18.
Trump made ending Russia's war on Ukraine war a priority when he began his current term in January 2025, but Kyiv and Moscow remain far apart in their negotiating positions and talks have stalled.
The Kremlin has been offering no concessions, repeatedly rejecting calls for a full cease-fire, and sticking to demands including Russian control over the territory in the Donetsk region that it has been unable to seize in battle.
The stalemate has seen the two sides step up attacks, with Moscow pummeling Kyiv and other major cities, along with targeting energy infrastructure, wreaking havoc on utilities just as Ukraine prepares for winter.
Ukraine's armed forces, in return, have targeted Russia's oil refining facilities to hinder its military operations.
Those strikes have angered Trump, whose Republican party is engaged in a tight battle for control of both the Senate and House amid surging fuel prices that have angered many voters.
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Zelenskyy warned of dire consequences for Ukraine if US support disappears.
"If the United States will take the side of Russia, of course we will not prevail," Zelenskyy told the NBC news show "Meet the Press" on October 18.
"We want to trust him, and I hope that he will change his decisions...Because I think that it's all mistakes and it will not help us. And it will not help United States."
He added that intelligence-sharing that Ukraine said had been interrupted earlier this week now appears to have been "de-blocked."
"We are very thankful for this," Zelenskyy said. "Now it works."
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A week ago, as Trump unilaterally announced an energy cease-fire on social media, Zelenskyy appeared to support halting the strikes but said he expected Moscow to do the same.
However, as Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites continued, the Ukrainian president said Kyiv was "done" with unilaterally pausing its own.
There was no indication Moscow had supported cease-fire announced by Trump.
Putin, who Russian media said was visiting a command post earlier in the week, ordered the Russian military to continue its "massive and coordinated" strikes against targets in Ukraine.
Moscow has previously sought to pressure Kyiv into accepting its hard-line demands by attacking the country's energy infrastructure and leaving thousands without heat or electricity amid freezing temperatures.
Trump's easing of sanctions has met with disdain from many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the United States, as well as from Ukraine's international partners.
Trump Again Criticizes Zelenskyy, Says Open To Meeting With Putin And Xi
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