{"id":888746,"date":"2026-10-20T10:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888746\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:46:16","slug":"us-ties-with-ukraine-hit-new-low-as-trump-slights-zelenskyy-and-eases-up-on-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888746\/","title":{"rendered":"US ties with Ukraine hit new low as Trump slights Zelenskyy and eases up on Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON — The U.S.-Ukraine alliance is careening toward a possible breaking point, with Moscow strengthened by President Donald Trump’s recent rejection of new Russia sanctions<\/a> and Kyiv undermined by disruptions in satellite support<\/a> for its drones during the war. <\/p>\n

Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has always been a moving target<\/a>, while the Republican president has frequently boasted of his rapport with Russian leader Vladimir Putin<\/a>. But relations between the U.S. and Ukraine appear to be at a new low, threatening to tip the balance of the war to Russia’s favor and imperil America’s security interests across the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this moment in time, things look blacker than they ever had regarding this administration\u2019s policy towards Russia and Ukraine,\u201d said John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine under President George W. Bush and now a scholar with the Atlantic Council. <\/p>\n

Trump has been lobbing insults at Zelenskyy<\/a> for over a week and turning to policies that benefit Putin, while Ukraine’s president has said he feels betrayed and worries for his country’s future. But the American president can still shift on Zelenskyy \u2014 especially as he faces bipartisan outrage from lawmakers<\/a> \u2014 which Trump has done before. <\/p>\n

Trump famously thrashed Ukraine\u2019s leader<\/a> in the Oval Office last year, warning him to \u201cmake a deal or we are out.” Washington briefly suspended intelligence sharing. But Trump was praising Zelenskyy by that July and said they \u201cactually developed a good relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is a mercurial guy,\u201d Herbst said. \u201cHe can wake up tomorrow morning, decide he\u2019s done enough on this, and he might start to lean back in the other direction.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump’s recent decisions have baffled experts and infuriated Democrats and some Republicans ahead of pivotal midterm elections<\/a> in two weeks. <\/p>\n

After The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin raised the prospect of a meeting with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine<\/a>, Trump told reporters Monday that he was open to it but expected it to focus on denuclearization efforts. Asked whether he would be willing to negotiate the end of the war without Zelenskyy, Trump appeared to indicate yes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump decided Friday to waive sanctions<\/a> on Russia in a bill that Congress overwhelmingly passed<\/a> to support Ukraine. Named after late South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/a>, the legislation targeted the flow of financial resources fueling Russia’s war. <\/p>\n

That rebuke followed Trump’s announcement of a deal to import Russian diesel fuel in a long-shot effort to curb high gas prices<\/a>. The agreement was pilloried by Republicans and Democrats alike who say it will help Russia without making a difference in global fuel prices, which are elevated mostly due to Trump\u2019s war against Iran.<\/p>\n

Then there were changes in SpaceX’s satellite support to Ukraine’s military, for which no one has taken responsibility. <\/p>\n

Starshield<\/a> is a military-grade version of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite internet service and the backbone of Ukraine\u2019s drone operations and communication. Zelenskyy says his country is facing major speed restrictions, so Ukrainian drones have been unable to intercept Russia’s jet-powered drones.<\/p>\n

SpaceX chief Elon Musk, a Trump ally, has said Starshield is controlled by the U.S. and any limits are decided by the military and ultimately Trump. But Trump told reporters Friday that he did not order restrictions and doubted that Musk did either. <\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Ukraine wants access to Starshield but doesn’t have it. On Monday, he said the Pentagon controls Starshield, and “Ukraine has benefited from it\u201d and wants to expand its use to conduct attacks beyond its territory.<\/p>\n

The U.S. military has not responded to questions about its involvement. <\/p>\n

And while Russia has launched new attacks on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure<\/a>, Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv once again received no early warning<\/a> of the latest attacks from partners such as the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia killed six people, including a mother and her child, who was just over a year old,\u201d Zelenskyy said on X, adding that this “is how Russia responds to sanctions waivers and reduced pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump and Rubio say Washington hasn\u2019t stopped providing intelligence to Kyiv that has helped Ukraine counter Russian attacks.<\/p>\n

Dan Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland and assistant secretary of state for European affairs under Bush, said he was mystified by the Trump administration\u2019s shifting positions on Ukraine. <\/p>\n

Fried said he first thought Trump\u2019s diesel fuel announcement was aimed at trying to influence the midterms with cheaper fuel prices. But what followed has changed his opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all seems designed to put pressure on Zelenskyy and curry favor with Putin,\u201d said Fried, now a scholar with the Atlantic Council.<\/p>\n

Fiona Hill, who was Trump\u2019s Russia adviser on the National Security Council during his first term, said Trump could be trying to appease Putin over worries that Russia could do more to support Iran. <\/p>\n

Since Trump launched the Iran war in February, Russia has sent drone technology to Tehran<\/a> and information that could help it strike American warships<\/a>, aircraft and other assets in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe this is it \u2014 Putin\u2019s just calling in a chit for not devastating Trump through Iran as he could do by helping the Iranians,\u201d said Hill, now a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n

Trump revealed his worries on social media Sunday, saying, \u201cRussia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

One factor that could nudge Trump toward a detente with Zelenskyy is the cascading criticism from Republicans. They are facing a surge of Democratic momentum<\/a> in the final stretch of the midterms, which will determine control of Congress. <\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican in a competitive race, is calling for congressional hearings into the Starshield disruptions and “immediate harsh and punitive budget cuts to any responsible agency or agency head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said on X that he and retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis organized a call with Zelenskyy and a bipartisan group of lawmakers Monday, including about disruptions to U.S. intelligence sharing. <\/p>\n

Zelenskyy, in a video of the briefing posted online, also noted that Ukraine has \u201calmost no Patriot interceptors left from the United States\u201d and claimed \u201cthe Pentagon is delaying the delivery of missiles that our partners have already paid for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged Trump to take up Zelenskyy’s pledge to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in exchange for U.S. targeting assistance to stop Russia’s missiles. <\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump can lower prices at the pump today by simply agreeing to this deal!\u201d Wicker posted on X. <\/p>\n

Regardless of which political party controls Congress next year, lawmakers will likely revolt if Trump enters into a deal with Russia and China over Ukraine, said Fried, the former ambassador to Poland. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that we are sitting on considerable leverage over Putin,” he said, “but also clear that we are not using it. It\u2019s a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Lynn Berry and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON — The U.S.-Ukraine alliance is careening toward a possible breaking point, with Moscow strengthened by President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,1930,239140,16777,793,451,228242,170164,1576,39317,3,139727,111,963,3776,452,453,800,965],"class_list":["post-888746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-diplomacy","tag-drone-warfare","tag-drones","tag-general-news","tag-headlines","tag-iran-war","tag-midterm-elections","tag-military-and-defense","tag-military-technology","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-politics","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-sanctions-and-embargoes","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}