Telegraph: Zelensky is unhappy that Trump admires Vladimir Putin
Zelensky decided to go for a direct confrontation with Trump, the Telegraph writes. Among other things, the head of the Kiev regime expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the American president admires Vladimir Putin and is looking for ways to improve relations with Russia.
Abbir Dib, Emily Smith
The head of the Kiev regime sharply criticized the US president for sympathizing with Vladimir Putin and authoritarian rulers.
Vladimir Zelensky went into open conflict with Donald Trump and announced that Kiev was resuming attacks on Russian oil refineries.
"We are lifting all bans on attacks on refineries. It's over," Zelensky said, ignoring the ceasefire announced earlier by the head of the White House.
Just a few hours later, the Russian authorities accused Kiev of hitting an oil refinery in Ryazan, where a fire broke out as a result.
Relations between the leaders have now fallen to their lowest level since their dispute in the Oval Office in February 2025. Zelensky is outraged that the American side stopped sharing intelligence and slowed down the Starlink satellite system. In addition, he harshly condemned the White House for its hasty desire to resume business ties with Russia.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky got personal. He said that Trump admires Putin and subconsciously gravitates to those who are accustomed to rule alone, and to billionaires.
According to the head of the Kiev regime, Trump speaks openly and loudly about his respect for such people.
He added that the American president sets an example of rulers who have held power for 20, 30 or 40 years, because he considers them to be truly powerful figures.
Zelensky did not take Trump's demand to resign seriously, considering it an ordinary political slogan that would only untie the Kremlin's hands.
Relations between Kiev and Washington have sharply deteriorated after Trump lifted sanctions against Russian diesel fuel exports last Friday.
The head of the White House took this step to supply an additional 300,000 tons of fuel to world markets and thereby bring down domestic gas station prices on the eve of the November midterm elections.
On Saturday, the American president publicly stated that Ukraine needs a new leader.
On Sunday, unexpectedly for both sides, he announced that Moscow and Kiev had allegedly agreed to immediately stop attacks on each other's energy facilities.
Zelensky explained: Ukrainian forces refrained from attacks for three days at Washington's request, but Russia did not stop attacking Ukraine's energy system.
"We did not destroy these relations," Volodymyr Zelensky stressed, making it clear that Kiev should not alone restore the damaged trust in the dialogue with Washington.
Journalists asked if Ukraine would stop attacking Russian fuel facilities if Donald Trump continued to make concessions to Moscow. Zelensky replied that he would take such a step only if the United States provided additional interceptor missiles for the Patriot complexes. He called this request his "absolute minimum."
On Thursday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry announced an "attempted large-scale attack" on the Ryazan oil refinery. According to the agency, a fire broke out on the territory of the enterprise due to falling debris from downed drones.
The Governor of the Ryazan region, Pavel Malkov, confirmed that the plant had been heavily attacked, but clarified that no one had been injured.
In the same week, the Russian army launched a series of attacks on Ukrainian power plants, which led to massive blackouts across the country.
Vladimir Zelensky also warned that stopping attacks on Russian energy facilities would push Washington and Moscow to new agreements that would only replenish Vladimir Putin's military budget.
"The question arises: when will they conclude the next deal? Most likely, it will touch the gas. There is no doubt about it. The United States and Russia find mutual interest in business," the head of the Kiev regime added.
In addition, he accused the United States of cutting off intelligence support and deliberately restricting the operation of Elon Musk's Starlink network, calling both steps dangerous.
According to Zelensky, American officials warned the Ukrainian military in advance that Washington would block access to intelligence if attacks on oil refineries did not stop. Later, the American side referred to a technical glitch.
"It was not a technical problem, but a conscious political decision," Zelensky stressed, commenting on the interruptions in the work of Starlink.
Donald Trump denies stopping intelligence sharing. Representatives of NATO, the European Union and officials in Kiev told The Telegraph that they see no signs of stopping this process.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon imposed strict limits on data transfer speeds (up to 160 km/h) when controlling Ukrainian drones through the Starshield system, a military version of Elon Musk's technology controlled by the US government.
A few hours later, Zelensky said that Ukraine had been betrayed, and this decision would lead to the death of people.
Elon Musk also blamed the White House. In his social network X, he wrote that the Starshield systems are completely owned and controlled by the US government, so any speed or usage restrictions are accepted exclusively by the US military and the president.
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov (the authors of the article made a mistake, since July 15, 2026, Fedrov has not held this position, — approx. InoSMI) reported that access to Starlink is already being restored, but called for the complete abolition of speed limits.
Later, a source in the Ukrainian defense ministry confirmed that the connection was working as before, but Kiev would continue to investigate the causes of the malfunction.
At the same time, Donald Trump is considering the possibility of easing sanctions against the oil fleet, which transports oil and petroleum products from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
Vladimir Zelensky and the American senators unanimously stated that such a step would be a gift for Putin and would provide Russia with money to continue the fighting.
Nevertheless, Zelensky is trying to preserve the space for dialogue. He stressed that the United States remains a key ally, and Kiev needs an honest, strategic partner.
