Volodymyr Zelensky said he feels “betrayed” by Donald Trump after the US president eased sanctions on Russian diesel.
In an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday night, the Ukrainian president responded to Trump’s deal with Moscow for diesel to curb domestic fuel prices, saying: “It’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side”.
Asked if he felt betrayed by the events in recent days, including Trump’s claims an energy ceasefire had been agreed, Mr Zelenksy said: “Really, yes, between us.”
During the interview, Mr Zelensky also voiced concerns over restrictions on the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink services in Ukraine, saying the move “will bring a lot of human losses”.
Later, Elon Musk, the boss of SpaceX, said that all speeds of the system were controlled by the US government and military. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After talks with British prime minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday evening, Mr Zelensky wrote on Telegram: "It is clear that the Russians are trying to take advantage of the problems with Starlink in Ukraine as the operation of interceptor drones largely depends on that connection."
Chancellor calls for tighter Russian shipping sanctions
Chancellor John Healey called on other nations to tighten sanctions on Russia-linked shipping, as he prepared to meet his foreign counterparts at the International Monetary Fund's annual meetings in Bangkok on Thursday.
"My message to finance ministers here today ... on Ukraine, is to stay the path on tough economic sanctions on Russia, especially a tighter ban on shipping services ... that help (Russian president Vladimir) Putin's sanctions-busting shadow fleet to operate," he said.
Britain has imposed a series of sanctions on shipping and related services that it believes Russia uses to fund and equip its war on Ukraine.
However, a US official on Wednesday said the Trump administration is considering easing sanctions on so-called shadow fleet vessels that have transported oil and petroleum products from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, in an effort to reduce record-high global freight rates.
US 'floats unfreezing some Russian assets' to restart Ukraine peace talks
The US has proposed that European countries unfreeze some Russian sovereign assets immobilised after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and transfer them to a vehicle overseen by Washington in an attempt to revive peace talks, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people briefed on the matter.
European delegates rebuffed the plan, which was pitched by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US president Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the report said.
US-Russia diesel deal can pave way for further economic cooperation, says Kremlin envoy
The US-Russia diesel deal can pave the way for further economic cooperation between the two countries, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Wednesday.
He added that Moscow would overcome any sanctions-related difficulties to ensure the diesel supplies.
The example of diesel cooperation with the US "will open other opportunities as well," he told reporters.
Watch: Zelensky tells Elon Musk 'people will die' over Starlink restrictions
Putin set to discuss cybersecurity challenges with top officials - Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss cybersecurity with top officials on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as an increasingly pressing issue.
He added that a number of countries were seeking to turn cyber technologies into weapons and Russia needed to be ready to face such challenges.
Trump ‘blindsided’ his own Ukraine peace envoys by agreeing diesel deal with Putin: report
The United States promised Ukraine extra post-war security guarantees just before Donald Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russia for diesel exports and upended the negotiations, according to reports.
Volodymyr Zelensky has been emphatic about the need for security assurances in any deal agreed with Vladimir Putin amid concerns that Moscow is already ignoring a supposed energy ceasefire announced by Trump earlier this week.
During six-hour talks in Miami last weekend, special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner suggested that the president was willing to strengthen protections for Ukraine as part of a revised peace plan, according to The * Telegraph*.
However, the discussions were frustrated after Trump agreed to allow Putin to export diesel to the US and globally amid rising fuel costs worldwide.
White House officials deny control over Space X - report
White House officials have reportedly denied any control over SpaceX amid a growing disagreement over restrictions placed on Starlink and Starshields in Ukraine.
Earlier Elon Musk claimed that Donald Trump controlled Starshields.
Now, Axios correspondent Barak Ravid has said: “White House officials told the Ukrainians they don't have control over SpaceX, the sources said. One of the sources said the Trump administration is going to reach out to SpaceX to figure out what happened.”
Ukraine attacks Russia's biggest data centre
Ukraine has launched an attack on Russia's biggest data centre, owned by the country's largest bank and technology company, Sberbank, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
"We confirm that the data processing centre was attacked. At the same time, all of Sberbank's systems and services are operating normally and without disruption," Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin told reporters.
The strike in the Saratov region on the Volga River followed three attacks in the past week on data centres owned by Russian tech group Yandex. Ukraine says it is responding to Russian attacks on its own data sites.
Along with Yandex, its main domestic rival, Sberbank is Russia's leading developer of artificial intelligence. The domestic market is shared between Sberbank's GigaChat model and YandexGPT.
Watch: Meloni hits out at Trump over ‘very risky’ diesel deal with Putin
Elections impossible to do as drones swarm the country and soldiers unable to vote from front line, says Zelensky
Ukraine’s president has said it’s impossible to do an election as a point of security with drones swarming the country.
Responding to comments by Donald Trump and Elon Musk that he should step down, Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Each hour we have attacks. This massive attack that we discussed, it was about night. But during the day, the same drones are here; hundreds and thousands each hour attack. So that's why, from a security, you can't do elections.
“Then soldiers are on the front. We can't choose the president without soldiers because they give and gave their lives. They are the first who have to vote, and I think it's fair.”