US-Ukraine relations sour as Trump, Zelenskyy clash over talks, arms

Trump calls for Zelenskyy to be replaced as negotiator, while Ukraine’s president says arms shipments delayed.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, on September 22, 2026 [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

United States President Donald Trump says someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should negotiate on Kyiv’s behalf in talks to end Russia’s war.

“Zelenskyy is a man that should have had settled this war a long time ago. If he would’ve listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Monday. “Maybe it’s time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate.”

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The US president has been verbally swiping at his Ukrainian counterpart for several days as a rift between the leaders deepens.

On Sunday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Zelenskyy does not want to end the war. Earlier this month, he called for him to be replaced as president , and labelled him a “warmonger” over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries .

Trump has also defended sanctions waivers for Russia, saying in the same Truth Social post that he wants to keep Moscow at the negotiating table.

Zelenskyy said the decision “will hurt Ukraine” and strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

Trump also announced plans on October 9 for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets to tackle fuel prices that have soared since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February.

The decision has angered not only Kyiv, but also European partners and US officials, who say it rewards Moscow while it continues its four-and-a-half-year war on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told US senators at a meeting on Monday that decisions taken by the Trump administration “are hard to explain between friends”.

He said arms shipments had been delayed and intelligence sharing restricted.

“We also know that … the Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that our partners have already paid for through the PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) programme,” he said.

To his knowledge, he added, one missile package was waiting for the signature of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

He also said several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were awaiting US approval.

People walk in front of a damaged shopping mall following an air attack in Kyiv on October 19, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine [Oleksii Filippov/AFP]

In remarks posted in a video on Telegram, Zelenskyy said that on three occasions in the past week, Ukraine had not received the advance warning of Russian attacks generally provided by its partners.

Last week, Zelenskyy suggested a disruption of Starlink services in Ukraine was “deliberate”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the claim.

The sparring comes as Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is ⁠set to travel to Norway this week for the next round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Two of the sources said they expected Zelenskyy to attend the meetings.

The Oslo discussions are expected to include Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, representatives of the E4 – made up of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland – the European Union, and NATO.

特朗普呼吁撤换泽连斯基的谈判代表职务，而乌克兰总统则表示武器运输被延误。

2026年9月22日，乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基和美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在纽约举行的第81届联合国大会期间举行双边会晤。[Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，在结束俄罗斯战争的谈判中，应该由乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基以外的人代表基辅进行谈判。

“泽连斯基本应早就结束这场战争。如果他听我的，早就达成更好的协议了，”特朗普周一在白宫外对记者说。“也许泽连斯基该找其他人来谈判了。”

泽连斯基称，俄罗斯对乌克兰的战争“必须结束”（共3条，此为第1条）。

鲁比奥称，美国并未暂停与乌克兰的情报共享（共3条记录中的第2条）。

名单3/3：俄罗斯无人机袭击乌克兰公园致6人死亡，其中包括儿童

美国总统已连续数日对乌克兰总统进行言语攻击，两国领导人之间的裂痕不断加深。

周日，特朗普在Truth Social网站上声称泽连斯基并不想结束战争。本月初，他曾呼吁泽连斯基下台，并因乌克兰袭击俄罗斯炼油厂而称其为“战争贩子”。

特朗普还为豁免对俄罗斯的制裁辩护，他在同一篇 Truth Social 帖子中表示，他希望让莫斯科留在谈判桌上。

泽连斯基表示，这一决定“将损害乌克兰的利益”，并加强俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的战争努力。

10月9日，特朗普还宣布了一项计划，俄罗斯将向美国和全球市场供应超过30万吨柴油，以应对自2月底美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争以来飙升的燃油价格。

这一决定不仅激怒了基辅，也激怒了欧洲伙伴和美国官员，他们表示，这一决定是在奖励莫斯科，而莫斯科仍在继续对乌克兰发动长达四年半的战争。

泽连斯基周一在与美国参议员的会议上表示，特朗普政府做出的决定“很难在朋友之间解释清楚”。

他说，武器运输被延误，情报共享受到限制。

“我们也知道……五角大楼正在拖延交付我们的合作伙伴已经通过 PURL（乌克兰优先需求清单）计划支付的导弹，”他说。

据他所知，他补充说，有一批导弹正在等待美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯签字。

他还表示，一些欧洲国家已准备好从本国库存中转移“爱国者”拦截导弹，但仍在等待美国的批准。

2026年10月19日，在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰期间，基辅一家购物中心遭到空袭后受损，人们走过该购物中心。[Oleksii Filippov/AFP]

泽连斯基在 Telegram 上发布的一段视频中表示，过去一周内，乌克兰曾三次没有收到俄罗斯袭击的预警，而这种预警通常是由其盟友提供的。

上周，泽连斯基暗示乌克兰境内的星链服务中断是“蓄意的”。美国国务卿马可·卢比奥驳斥了这一说法。

据路透社援引三位知情人士的消息报道，就在特朗普的特使史蒂夫·威特科夫本周将前往挪威，就结束乌克兰战争进行下一轮谈判之际，双方发生了争执。

两名消息人士称，他们预计泽连斯基将出席会议。

预计奥斯陆会谈的参与者包括泽连斯基、挪威首相乔纳斯·加尔·斯托尔、英国、法国、德国和波兰组成的“英法四国”代表、欧盟代表和北约代表。