Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with top U.S. envoys on Sunday (October 18, 2026) to try to ease tensions, as Donald Trump accused his counterpart of not wanting to end the war with Russia.
Mr. Zelenskyy spoke to U.S. officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as both Russia and Ukraine hit each other’s energy sites, with Moscow leaving thousands without power and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on Saint Petersburg since the start of the war in 2022.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy have clashed as the U.S. president blocked new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow, fuelling fears in Kyiv and Europe that the White House was steering towards Moscow.
A Wall Street Journal report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting on Ukraine with Mr. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping — but not Mr. Zelenskyy — has set off more alarm bells.
On Sunday (October 18, 2026), Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he was in the process of negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine and making “great progress,” but claimed: “Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him… he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
“Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States,” Mr. Trump said.
Earlier, after speaking to Mr. Trump’s business partner Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner, Mr. Zelenskyy said “a lot depends” on the U.S. position in the war but that “it is clear that there are many things that matter to all of us and that this war must be brought to an end.”
Ukraine was ready to work “constructively” and “honestly”, he said. “We expect exactly this approach from all our partners — both from the Europeans and, of course, from the American side.”
He said he discussed deliveries of U.S. Patriot air defence systems, as Kyiv struggles to counter Russian missiles.
Mr. Zelenskyy earlier told U.S. broadcaster NBC it would be a “historic mistake” if Washington formally supported Russia and that he hoped Mr. Trump would “change his decisions.”
But he also said he was “thankful” the United States resumed intelligence sharing after a pause that left his country vulnerable to Russian missile strikes.
Thousands without power
A U.S.-led push to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II has so far not brought about a breakthrough, and Mr. Trump has in the past grown frustrated with both Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Putin because of their lack of progress.
Mr. Zelenskyy spoke to the American officials as he accused Russia of breaking Mr. Trump’s “energy ceasefire” 76 times and warning Moscow planned to deprive Ukrainians of heat and electricity before winter.
Russian strikes left “tens of thousands” without power in several regions, he said, with Ukrainian officials reporting three people had been killed.
Ukraine’s army launched drones at Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg late Sunday, setting an oil refinery ablaze and killing one person, Moscow said.
Russia’s VKontakte social network said its data centre was hit, and Ozon — Russia’s second-largest retailer — also reported a strike on its logistics centre.
The head of the wider Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said air defence shot down 144 Ukrainian drones, with state media saying this was the largest attack on the city since the start of the war.
‘Dreadful routine of war’
The Kremlin, however, said Ukrainian attacks on its cities will not change its war aims.
Mr. Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine and, in a fifth year of war, few see a way out of the conflict.
“There’s a general feeling: they’re attacking, we’re attacking — it’s become the dreadful routine of war,” 58-year-old Galina told AFP in Saint Petersburg.
Moscow has rained drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities daily and Kyiv says its strikes are fair retribution.
Sergei, another Saint Petersburg resident who is also 58, said he felt his apartment block shake and quickly realised it was a drone attack.
“I don’t know if I was scared, what must be will be,” he said.
Ukrainian strikes caused nationwide fuel shortages in Russia earlier this year.
Published – October 19, 2026 09:10 am IST
