Trump moves to sideline Zelenskyy from peace talks as Ukraine accuses Washington of withholding missile warnings

Donald Trump called for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be replaced as negotiator on Monday, deepening a rift that has opened across the US-Ukraine relationship as the Ukrainian president said his country did not receive advance warning of Russian missile attacks on at least three occasions in the past week.

Trump claimed on Truth Social on Sunday that Zelenskyy does not want to end the war, writing that the Ukrainian leader “doesn’t care” and “probably never did” want to end the conflict. Earlier this month, Trump called for Zelenskyy to be replaced as president and labelled him a warmonger over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries. Trump defended sanctions waivers for Russia, saying on the same platform that he wants to keep Moscow at the negotiating table and does not want to do anything that would “foolishly” drive Russia away from the bargaining table.

Strikes without warning

Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region in a barrage on Sunday evening that hit 28 substations and other critical energy facilities. More than 500,000 people were deprived of electricity, heat, and running water. A 21-year-old woman was killed in the capital. Yuri Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force, said Ukraine did not receive a warning before the barrage struck power plants in Kyiv at about 11pm on Sunday. Ukraine did receive a warning before a subsequent strike at 3am, Ihnat added. “Once again, Russia launched a ballistic missile attack in multiple waves throughout the night, and once again, there was no warning from our partners,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post on Monday morning.

For years, the US has warned Ukraine before Russia launched ballistic missiles, giving authorities several minutes to sound alarms and allow civilians to reach shelters. In at least one case, Ukrainian officials were told that bad weather over southern Russia had obscured preparations for the missile launch. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a few nights ago there was a software problem involving Ukraine’s early warning system. US European Command was looking into the strikes, Rubio said. The Trump administration has denied throttling Starlink satellite internet services in Ukraine, a separate issue that Zelenskyy has suggested was deliberate.

Sanctions relief and diesel deals

On Friday, Trump waived a sweeping package of sanctions on Russia, telling Congress the pause on legislation named after the late senator Lindsey Graham was in the national interest. The waiver followed Trump’s October 9 announcement of plans for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets. The diesel decision was tied to tackling fuel prices that have soared since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February. The decision angered Kyiv, European partners, and US officials, who say it rewards Moscow while it continues its war on Ukraine. Zelenskyy said the sanctions waiver decision will hurt Ukraine and strengthen Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

Weapons delays and the Norway track

Zelenskyy said arms shipments had been delayed and intelligence sharing restricted, telling US senators at a meeting on Monday that decisions by the Trump administration “are hard to explain between friends.” US weapons delivered through the PURL scheme, in which Europe purchases American weapons and then delivers them to Ukraine, have been delayed. Several European countries were ready to transfer Patriot interceptor missiles from their own stockpiles but were awaiting US approval. One missile package was waiting for the signature of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Trump administration reportedly threatened Kyiv with a slowdown in crucial weapons deliveries unless it stopped striking Russian oil refineries.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Norway this week for the next round of negotiations on ending the war. The Oslo discussions are expected to include Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, E4 representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland, the European Union, and NATO. Trump told reporters on Monday he would consider a trilateral meeting with Russia and China to discuss nuclear weapons and denuclearisation.

Later drone strikes on a public park in the Kharkiv region killed six people, including young children. Regional governor Oleg Synegubov said three of the dead in Nova Vodolaha were children, including one in a pushchair. Seven children were among the 14 wounded. Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Zelenskyy on Monday to discuss Oleshky, a city in Ukraine’s Kherson region facing a worsening humanitarian crisis. Pope Leo told Zelenskyy he had asked Putin for a humanitarian ceasefire during a call with the Russian leader on Friday.