US President Donald Trump has renewed his sharp criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader is “more difficult to deal with than [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.
Speaking to US media on Thursday evening, Trump also called Ukraine’s fresh wave of strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace”.
Zelensky, who is in Brussels for a summit with EU leaders, had paused the attacks for three days at Trump’s request for a ceasefire on energy targets, but said on Thursday the strikes would resume because Moscow had never stopped.
Trump: "I watched an interview of a young woman the other day from Ukraine. And she said, ‘President Zelenskyy has destroyed our country. President Zelenskyy has taken our men away from us. Our men have no legs, no arms. Our men in many cases in mental institutions or they’re dead.’"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2026
