Zelenskyy Seeks U.S. Support Amid Russia War Strains

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and European officials in Norway, seeking to ease tensions with President Donald Trump before Witkoff’s planned meeting with Vladimir Putin in Russia. The talks followed Trump’s criticism of Ukraine’s efforts to inflict heavy losses on Russia and came amid disputes over U.S. military and technical support.

Support under strain

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finland’s President Alex Stubb joined Zelenskyy at the meeting. Store said the officials had gathered “to straighten out a few things” and “agree that what matters now is to look ahead.” Stubb said progress had been made “under the radar” and that “the process is back on track.”

The U.S.-Ukraine relationship had come under strain, including after restrictions on SpaceX services forced Ukraine to slow down and lose connections to its drones. Ukraine also accused the United States of withholding air defense missiles and intelligence used in its air alert system. The U.S. blamed a technical fault, and Zelenskyy said the early warning system worked again. “Hear when ballistic is coming, so we are thankful to American side. Now it works. It’s great,” he said.

European officials said a U.S. program that sells weapons to European countries for transfer to Ukraine continued, though air defense interceptors remained in short supply. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. hadn’t changed its posture toward Ukraine, while adding it wanted to ensure its own forces had as many interceptors as possible.

Russian missile and drone attacks overnight killed at least four people and injured dozens, including children. The attacks hit a main highway during rush hour. Andrii Pakhalovych, a coffee shop owner, said through an interpreter that the United States could have provided weapons earlier to help protect power and heating plants. “In a month, we’ll have freezing temperatures. What are people supposed to do?” he said.

Washington’s position and the war

Trump said Russia wanted to reach a settlement, but Zelenskyy had to want one too. “We have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We’ve got nothing back, other than high diesel,” Trump said. The report said the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran had also driven diesel prices higher.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine, Europe and the United States all wanted peace, but added: “Of course, we’re not losing this war, but we are losing people. And because Russia attacks, we’re losing people and time.”

David Kramer, identified as a former U.S. assistant secretary of state and executive director of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas, said the apparent reset between Trump and Zelenskyy might not last. He said disruptions to intelligence provision and Starlink and Starshield services had harmed Ukrainians, who had lost their lives as a result.

Kramer said Putin started the war in 2014, began a full-scale war in 2022 and had refused to negotiate an end to it. He said Ukraine and Zelenskyy had repeatedly shown willingness and flexibility to end the war and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. He described ties between Washington and Kyiv as strained. Repeated shifts in U.S. policy, he said, had exhausted and unnerved Ukrainians as Russia kept striking civilian targets.

Sanctions and negotiations

Kramer said Putin had dangled improved U.S.-Russian relations, including business deals and nuclear negotiations, and offered a possible summit in Beijing the following month, when Trump was due to travel there for a major international conference. Ukrainians would have great difficulty accepting a meeting between Putin, Chinese leader Xi and Trump to discuss Ukraine without Ukraine, Kramer said.

Kramer said Putin didn’t view Ukraine as a truly independent state. He said Putin wanted Ukraine under Russia’s thumb, sought to destroy its identity and remove its duly elected government, and wanted to deny it the choice of whether to join NATO or the European Union. Putin also wanted to reduce Ukraine’s military and undermine its identity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, Kramer said. He noted that Zelenskyy’s term had gone beyond its mandate because Ukraine declared martial law after Russia’s invasion.

Kramer called for tighter sanctions, action against the shadow fleet Russia relies on to fund its war effort, and measures against Russian banks, companies and individuals. He also called for military assistance to resume, either through Europeans purchasing U.S. weapons for Ukraine or through direct assistance. He cited the Lindsey Graham legislation, which he said passed the Senate 86-11 and the House by a sizable margin. Kramer said surveys showed Americans supported Ukraine and argued that pressure should be directed at Putin, not Ukraine or Zelenskyy.