European leaders "know they can’t stop courting Donald Trump, and as the US president menaces Ukraine and offers Russia an economic lifeline, they are preparing for a world where he effectively sides with Moscow," Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
Details
Over the course of the week, the publication writes, Trump rolled back years of energy sanctions against the Kremlin, pressured Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries, and spoke about Volodymyr Zelenskyy's presidency—echoing Moscow's propaganda. At one point, Ukraine also lost full access to Elon Musk's Starlink system, leaving it hamstrung on the battlefield, the publication notes.
The publication notes that Zelenskyy responded. He said he felt betrayed. He publicly exposed Trump, the publication writes.
"It was an alarming moment for Europeans," according to people familiar with the conversations at the leaders' summit in Brussels this week.
EU leaders are preparing to urge Zelenskyy to rein in criticism of Trump - FT15.10.26, 14:07
For many, this revealed a painful reality they had avoided for months: Trump's instinct is to criticize Kyiv and support Russia. And that is unlikely to change, several European Union leaders, including those from France and Germany, said during their private conversations
Zelenskyy himself will speak at the meeting on Friday.
"We see that Zelenskyy now has only one ally, and that is essentially the Europeans," Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Brussels.
"The Western alliance is now in a weaker position than it was a few days ago," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters as she arrived for talks in the Belgian capital on Thursday. "If you do not support Ukraine, then you are putting Europe as a whole, and therefore NATO as a whole, in a much, much more dangerous situation."
"Of course, Trump and Zelenskyy have been in this situation before and have always found a way to mend relations," the publication notes.
At the same time, the publication notes that "their latest disagreement comes at a particularly inopportune moment. Winter is approaching, and Ukraine lacks the American Patriot interceptor missiles needed to shoot down Russian missiles. Kyiv's military spending is also creating a hole in its budget that Europe is trying to fill. Meanwhile, Russia is striking a greater number of civilian targets, periodically leaving Kyiv facing disruptions to its electricity and water supplies," the publication says.
Ukraine has exhausted its stockpile of missiles for Patriot systems - media15.10.26, 18:14
Next month, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin will have an opportunity to meet Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China, which neither Zelenskyy nor the Europeans will attend.
"Trump, for his part, is several weeks away from the midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is expected to suffer major losses, forcing him to seek quick ways to lower fuel prices. This fixation is shaping Trump's desire to buy Russian diesel fuel despite the sanctions, as well as his calls for Ukraine to stop attacks on oil refineries, even though experts say that the U.S. war against Iran is the biggest reason for high fuel prices," the publication notes.
"The most important thing we will discuss today is what he needs for this winter. Everything depends on this winter," the Latvian prime minister told Bloomberg. "We must also understand that the United States is now approaching the midterm elections. This is election time," Kulbergs said. "It is a different atmosphere."
For now, most Europeans are advising Zelenskyy to soften his criticism of Trump, given that there is no alternative to cooperation with the United States, sources say
It adds that the United States "continues to sell weapons to Ukraine and share intelligence vital to Kyiv's defense."
"If that intelligence disappeared, Europe would not have a good solution," one official said.
That is presumably why EU leaders were careful not to voice excessive public criticism of Trump when they arrived in Brussels on Thursday for the summit. However, behind closed doors, some did express shock at the US president’s recent behavior, sources said
An Élysée Palace official said that France’s priority was for Europe to continue supporting Ukraine. A spokesperson for the office of the German chancellor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the publication notes, "Europe is standing its ground, supporting sanctions and insisting that Ukraine must not surrender territory as part of a peace settlement," especially after the Defense Forces retook some of the territories lost in the Donbas, which Putin wants to control.
"US influence over Ukraine has also declined over the past few months. Although intelligence remains an important factor, the money to support Kyiv and purchase American weapons is coming primarily from Europe. Ukraine is also finally receiving ammunition for F-16 fighter jets to shoot down threatening Russian jet-powered drones," the publication said.
Meanwhile, the publication writes, "Washington’s efforts to establish the peace Trump promised to bring shortly after taking office last week have not made significant progress." "The latest meetings in Florida last weekend, which the Ukrainian delegation walked out of after Trump’s deal with Russia on diesel fuel, were largely focused on discussing the same set of points that the president’s envoys—Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—developed several months ago," according to people familiar with the matter.
"During Monday’s meeting, EU foreign ministers privately agreed that Europe’s policy toward Ukraine must remain unchanged, regardless of fluctuations in Washington," according to people familiar with the discussions. They "decided to engage with the US whenever possible and maintain their support for Kyiv when that is not possible."
"We definitely have a different approach to this war," EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. "We see that we need to put pressure on the aggressor to stop the war, not on the victim to surrender. Putting pressure on Ukraine is the wrong approach," she stressed.
Kallas: strikes on Russia's oil refineries are a form of defense for Ukraine15.10.26, 12:03