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European leaders are expected to urge Volodymyr Zelensky to tone down his public criticism of Donald Trump, fearing that the Ukrainian president’s increasingly direct remarks risk further damaging already tense relations between Washington and kyiv.
In an interview with the FT on Wednesday, Zelensky criticized the US leader’s recent diesel deal with Russia, condemned a “dangerous” withdrawal of US intelligence support and said Trump had an affinity for autocrats and the ultra-rich.
The blunt assessment surprised EU leaders who will meet Zelensky in Brussels on Friday and urge him to tone down his rhetoric during closed-door negotiations, three officials briefed on preparations for the summit told the FT.
“That may be true, but it doesn’t always have to be said out loud,” one of the officials said. The message from the 27 leaders will be empathetic but firm, the officials added.
Trump’s announcement that he had reached a deal with Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel, Washington’s pressure on kyiv to stop hitting Russian refineries and U.S. proposals to unfreeze Russian state assets have led to the worst crisis since Trump publicly insulted Zelensky in the Oval Office last year.
The breakdown in relations puts kyiv’s European allies, who also rely on Washington for critical defense and intelligence support, in a bind.
“We want to continue helping Ukraine. And I am happy that Zelensky will be with us tomorrow,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters on Thursday.
“We must do everything in our power to support Ukraine… I firmly believe that we are not only defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but we are defending the political order of Europe, which is currently under intense pressure from Russia in all respects,” he added.
The United States no longer provides financial aid to Ukraine and only supplies weapons paid for by kyiv and its European allies. But Washington’s intelligence is critical to the country’s ability to defend itself against attacks from Moscow and strike targets in Russia.
During previous flare-ups of rocky relations with Trump, European leaders sought to comfort Zelensky and went to Washington to convince the U.S. leader to continue supporting his Ukrainian counterpart.
But many plan to take a slightly more critical tone toward Zelensky on Friday morning, the officials said, while expressing support — given the fragility of transatlantic relations and Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukraine.
“We need to continue our engagement with the United States because we have had times in the past where there have been challenges and difficulties on this and that has been recovered through good outreach and good engagement with the United States,” said Michael Martin, the Irish prime minister, when asked Thursday about Trump’s position on the war. “I have no doubt that this will continue.”
“We definitely have different approaches (compared to the United States) to this war,” said Kaja Kallas, head of European diplomacy, when asked about tensions between the United States and Ukraine. “We see that we need to put pressure on the aggressor to end this war, not the victim. Pressuring Ukraine is not the right approach.”
Additional reporting by Andy Bounds, Paola Tamma and Barbara Moens in Brussels
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