By Bart H. Meijer and Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, Oct 16 (Reuters) – European Union leaders are set to rally around President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit on Friday as US President Donald Trump fired another salvo at Ukraine, calling its strikes on Russian refineries a “disgrace”.
The EU is hosting Zelenskiy in Brussels at one of the most difficult moments for Ukraine, with missiles and drones raining down on Ukrainian cities and fears that the US could pull back intelligence sharing and weapons support from Kyiv.
Trump blindsided Zelenskiy last weekend by announcing that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other’s energy facilities. Facing US midterm elections in November, Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for pushing up energy prices that could cost him at the ballot box.
“We want to end this war as quick as possible. We don’t see now signals from the Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war, that’s why we have to prepare for the winter,” Zelenskiy said as he arrived at the summit.
“The winter package is not only energy, it’s also air defence and funding,” Zelenskiy said, adding that he would discuss Ukraine’s needs for the rest of this year and for 2027.
PREPARATION FOR WINTER WILL BE ON AGENDA
Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery after Zelenskiy declared that Kyiv was abandoning the energy ceasefire that Trump had announced, and criticised his willingness to strike deals with Moscow.
“All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that’s a disgrace,” Trump said in an interview with the Newsmax news outlet, after Ukraine hit a refinery southeast of Moscow which helps to supply the Russian capital.
The Trump administration is also considering easing sanctions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, a US official said on Wednesday.
EU leaders have hit out at Trump’s diesel deal, though they are also grappling with soaring energy prices since the Iran war that exposed divisions between member states on day one of the summit on Thursday.
Zelenskiy told Reuters earlier this month that Ukraine had agreed a plan with European partners that would allow it to close a $27 billion deficit in its military spending for this year, allowing it to order the drones needed to continue fighting at the start of 2027.
However, Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said recently Ukraine still faced an unfunded budget gap for next year of $32.6 billion – and that does not include an estimated $40 billion in direct military supplies from allies.
“I am unhappy with the number of countries that have been willing to pledge new financial support to Ukraine. But we will see several countries pledging more military support soon,” said Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
“Today will be more about talking to Zelenskiy about how to deal with the complex diplomatic situation that has arisen and how to survive the winter.”
Asked about Trump’s latest remarks, Jetten said, “This is not the right language. It is also in the interest of Trump to defend Ukraine in this war.”
PUTIN PLAYS DOWN EFFECT OF UKRAINIAN ATTACKS
For Russia’s part, President Vladimir Putin played down the effect of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, saying they had caused “nothing particularly significant”.
On the eve of Zelenskiy’s appearance at the summit, Russia also moved to place local assets of French, German, Swedish and Dutch companies under temporary management, in retaliation for the EU’s support for Ukraine.
In the latest attacks, Russian drone strikes on the city of Kharkiv killed three people, according to local authorities, while strikes on the Volyn region bordering Poland left 370,000 people without power. Emergency power cuts were introduced in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv during Russian strikes, private energy provider DTEK said on X.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Zelenskiy “will probably look everybody straight in the eye and say, thank you for the 90 billion, but that money is going to run out because a war is a very costly thing.”
“So are you, as a European family, still willing, ready and able to put your money where your mouths are and support Ukraine and keep Ukrainian society and Ukrainian defence up and running?” he said.
(Reporting by Bart H. Meijer and Philip Blenkinsop; writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Alex Richardson)
Comments