Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1224 EAT on Wednesday 21 October 2026
The hug offered by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of talks in Oslo is unlikely to have eased the Ukrainian leader’s concerns about the direction of US policy towards his war-ravaged country.
Zelensky posted a video of the encounter on social media, accompanied by the message: “Ukraine is working for peace. I thank our partners for their support!”
However, given recent developments, the question remains whether Zelensky still regards Trump as a partner.
The two leaders have never had a close relationship, but recent events have raised questions about whether their differences have now reached a breaking point.
Both their rhetoric and actions over the past 10 days point to a deepening rift in a relationship that has long been marked by tensions.
Trump made his position clear in an interview with Newsmax last week, saying: “Zelensky’s not a good guy for us to deal with.”
The verbal attacks have continued this week.
“Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Trump told a reporter on Monday when asked about the Ukrainian leader’s suggestion that a deal to buy diesel from Russia put the US on the wrong side of history.
Such personal attacks are characteristic of Trump’s confrontational approach to diplomacy, making it difficult to determine when his remarks signal a lasting policy shift and when they are merely rhetorical.
In June, Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he “has no f**king judgement”. Four months later, however, he enthusiastically endorsed Netanyahu, describing him as a “great warrior prime minister”.
“Trump can always do another U-turn,” says Ian Bond of the Centre for European Reform. “But this does look bad.”
Zelensky, for his part, has generally been measured in how he speaks about his unpredictable but indispensable American counterpart.
This month, however, his frustration has become increasingly apparent. Addressing a US congressional delegation, he referred to “decisions on the American side that are hard to explain between friends” and expressed concern that “some political decision has been made to slow down support for us”.
Responding to Trump’s accusation that he was the main obstacle to a negotiated settlement, Zelensky sounded more exasperated than ever.
“We have welcomed literally EVERY attempt by our partners to end this war with dignity,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday.
But beyond the rhetoric, how serious is the rift between the two leaders?
In some respects, the current tensions echo an earlier crisis.
Following their notorious televised confrontation in the Oval Office in February 2025, during which Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III”, the US suspended military assistance to Ukraine and restricted intelligence sharing.
The crisis lasted only a week. Later that year, when the Trump administration decided to stop directly financing military assistance to Ukraine, a mechanism was established for European countries to pay for American military equipment instead.
One exception, in the wake of this year’s US war with Iran, has been the supply of much-needed US-made Patriot air defence missiles.
Amid a global shortage, deliveries to Ukraine have slowed to a trickle, making it increasingly difficult for Kyiv to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.
The Washington Post, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official, reported that Ukraine had only “a couple” of Patriot interceptors remaining in its stockpile. The newspaper also reported that the Trump administration had slowed the process through which US allies seek approval to transfer their own stocks to Ukraine.
Similar concerns have been raised before, but the latest reports, which have not been confirmed by US officials, come at an increasingly difficult time for Kyiv.
Earlier this month, as Ukrainian negotiators arrived in Miami for talks with Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, they were caught off guard by news that the US president had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to open American markets to Russian diesel.
Experts questioned whether the agreement would significantly lower US petrol prices, an apparent objective ahead of congressional midterm elections. However, as a signal of Washington’s displeasure with Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, as well as its willingness to strike deals with the Kremlin, the move represented a serious rebuke to Kyiv.
Last Friday, Trump went further, waiving sweeping sanctions against Russia just two days before they were due to take effect.
Trump said the sanctions, contained in the Graham Act, would undermine his efforts to broker peace. The legislation is named after former South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal supporter of Ukraine who died in July. For Kyiv and its supporters, however, the move was another alarming indication that the White House was tilting towards the Kremlin.
“What the Trump administration is doing is providing carrots to the Russians and sticks to the Ukrainians,” William Taylor, a former US ambassador to Kyiv, told the BBC.
“It’s inexplicable and saddening.”
Kirill Dmitriev, a senior envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, described the move as “an important and truly historic moment”.
For Moscow, the development appeared to signal a welcome return to what Russian officials have called the “spirit of Alaska”, a phrase widely used following the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage in August 2025.
Further fuelling concerns that Trump is turning his back on Ukraine are allegations, which Washington has not confirmed, that the US has restricted intelligence sharing and interfered with Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.
As Russia intensifies its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv says it has received less advance warning based on US satellite intelligence, potentially complicating efforts to defend against incoming strikes.
“We didn’t receive it during ballistic attacks for three days,” Zelensky told NBC News, referring to US intelligence warnings.
On 12 October, five Russian S-400 missiles struck Kyiv, reportedly before air raid sirens or mobile phone alerts had sounded.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied that intelligence sharing had been suspended, attributing the temporary disruption in early warnings to a “software problem”.
Similar uncertainty surrounds Ukraine’s access to Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
A week ago, Ukrainian officials reported that the service was being throttled, with terminals struggling to maintain high-speed connections. The disruption reportedly made it harder for Ukraine’s military to intercept fast-moving Russian drones.
Since the summer, Ukraine has struggled to counter a wave of attacks involving advanced, jet-powered drones.
It remains unclear who ordered any restrictions on Ukraine’s access to Starlink or its military-grade counterpart, Starshield. Reuters reported that the order came from the White House.
Rubio, however, denied the allegation, saying: “No-one at the White House ordered anyone to slow down internet.”
The recurring suspicions nevertheless highlight the deep mistrust that continues to strain relations between Washington and Kyiv.
Much of that mistrust stems from Trump’s apparent long-standing scepticism towards Ukraine and, in particular, Zelensky.
During a notorious telephone conversation in July 2019, Trump also asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, who went on to defeat him in the 2020 presidential election. Zelensky declined to comply.
At the time, the White House was withholding $391 million (£290 million) in military assistance to Ukraine. The episode ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Whether resentment over these past confrontations continues to shape Trump’s current policy towards Ukraine remains unclear. What is evident, however, is that relations between Washington and Kyiv have once again taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Following the talks in Oslo, Witkoff is travelling to St Petersburg with an updated set of proposals. Attention will now turn to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his response.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the Oslo talks had helped “to straighten out a few things”.
“There’s nothing to gain from… digging into what was said yesterday or a week ago,” he said diplomatically.
Zelensky said the day had begun with a productive conversation with the US secretary of state and indicated that the issue of early-warning intelligence had already been resolved. He also expressed optimism about the supply of Patriot missiles and access to Starlink.
“I think we will have good results too,” he said.
Despite the positive tone following the Oslo talks, however, the underlying tensions remain. Once again, Zelensky and Trump appear to be at odds over the future of US support for Ukraine and the prospects for ending the war.
-BBC
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