Trump Lashes Out at Zelensky Over Russian Refinery Attacks: 'Disgrace'
Newsweek · C · trust 67/100
10 Loading video... By Brendan Cole Senior Reporter
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. U.S. President Donald Trump has condemned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Kyiv's resumption of strikes on oil facilities in Russia, calling it a "disgrace."
In an interview with Newsmax , Trump was asked about a drone attack on an oil facility in the Russian city of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, on Thursday. The attack came after Kyiv apparently honored a truce on energy strikes that Trump had unilaterally declared last week.
"Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with," Trump said, adding: "He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't."
"All he's doing is making the world oil price higher," the U.S. president continued. "Well, I think that's a disgrace."
Zelensky has criticized Trump for easing sanctions on Russian diesel and for restrictions on the speed of the Starlink satellite network, which is critical for Ukrainian drone strikes and defense from Russian attacks.
The Ukrainian leader has said that despite Trump's announcement about an energy truce, Moscow continued to bombard energy infrastructure. He told the Financial Times that the pause on attacking refineries was finished, adding, "We're done."
Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities to hurt Moscow's main export and choke revenues for its war effort. Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Trump is trying to ease pressure on oil prices as Americans pay more at the pump.
In his interview with Newsmax , Trump said: "I'm not a big fan of Zelensky. They've destroyed that country."
In a swipe at the previous administration's financial help for Kyiv, Trump said, "Biden gave him billions and billions of dollars," and he repeated his claim that the war would not have started had he been president in 2022.
"I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin," Trump said.
Trump's comments signal a growing rift with Zelensky following months of failed attempts to negotiate a peace deal as Moscow continues to bombard Ukraine and maintain its demands for the surrender of the Donbas region.
Separately, the Yandex data center in Vladimir Oblast, over 300 miles from the Ukrainian border, was hit in a strike as Kyiv targets facilities belonging to the Russian technology giant.
Footage on social media showed explosions and air defense systems in operation.
Other strikes on Yandex data centers in the Ryazan and Kaluga regions in the past week have disrupted online services and caused outages across the country.
This is a developing story. More to follow.
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