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Washington Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
How Ukraine's allies helped Zelensky recover his standing with Trump
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got off the phone with President Donald Trump on Independence Day, his top aide could scarcely contain his relief. ''Wow, that was the best call with him we ever had,'' his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said after Zelensky hung up the call — and Zelensky agreed, according to a Ukrainian official who, like other officials interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions. The call felt so positive from Ukraine's perspective that it caught Zelensky's staff by surprise, the official said. 'The spirit was uplifted, but it is too early to celebrate,' the official said. 'We have to wait for actions.' The Ukrainians know better than most how much fortunes can shift with Trump's mercurial moods. In February, Zelensky and Trump engaged in an Oval Office shouting match that ended with the Ukrainian president's ejection from the White House. The July 4 call marked a remarkable turnabout, leading to Trump's decision this week to offer about $10 billion worth of weaponry for Europe to purchase on Ukraine's behalf. That shift culminated months of work by European leaders, Republicans on Capitol Hill and others sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause who gave Zelensky strategic advice about how to get Trump back on his side, including how to use the language of transaction and flattery that Trump appears to respond to. 'A lot of Ukraine's allies have been in contact with Zelensky about this, but also among each other,' a European official said. 'They're talking about how you talk to Trump.' Zelensky also benefited from Trump's growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That frustration boiled over the day before Trump and Zelensky spoke. A July 3 phone call between the U.S. and Russian leaders was followed by the most intense Russian drone assaults on Ukraine of the war. Trump, in response, has publicly accused Putin of offering him 'bulls---' during their conversations. 'I speak to [Putin] a lot,' Trump said earlier this week as he announced the new weapons sales for Ukraine. 'I always hang up and say, 'Well, that was a nice phone call.' And then missiles launched into Kyiv or some other city. After that happens three or four times, you say the talk doesn't mean anything.' The turnaround in the Trump-Zelensky relationship keeps open the flow of U.S. arms for Ukraine at a crucial moment for Kyiv, with Russia pressing what it believes is a battlefield advantage. For Zelensky, it has proved to be yet another close escape for a wartime leader who has had many of them since Russia invaded his country in February 2022. Back then, he drew global praise for holding resolute in Kyiv and galvanizing a fierce defense that U.S. intelligence agencies and others felt was unlikely. Now, under very different circumstances, he may have achieved another unexpected win. Trump's allies say that he hasn't abandoned his primary goal: ending the war as quickly as possible. 'I'm on nobody's side. You know the side I'm on? Humanity's side. I want to stop the killing of thousands of people a week,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday. But the Trump allies acknowledge the president's mounting frustration with Putin and growing receptivity to the weapons-sales plan hatched among European leaders and Zelensky. The plan allows Trump to keep an arm's length from support for Ukraine, while still preserving Ukraine's strength enough to pressure Moscow toward a peace deal. Zelensky said this week that he felt Trump was starting to see Putin in a less idealistic light. 'President Trump realizes that Putin is lying to him, and it is important that President Trump sees this for himself, not what he hears from someone else, but what he sees with his own eyes,' the Ukrainian leader told Newsmax — one of Trump's favored media outlets. 'We have supported all the U.S. initiatives on the ceasefire. I supported all of President Trump's initiatives, and he saw the reality. Putin just says one thing and then bombs.' The patched relationship between Zelensky and Trump was not foreordained. Policymakers and strategists from the U.S. and several European countries said that a coordinated effort to help rehabilitate Zelensky's relationship with the president sparked into motion even before the Ukrainian leader departed Washington on that end-of-February evening, after White House staff dined on the lunch that was supposed to be shared with the Ukrainians. European leaders helped draft language for Zelensky to use to apologize to Trump. They brainstormed a ceasefire proposal acceptable to Ukrainians that Russia ultimately rejected. And European leaders who have cellphone relationships with Trump — he sometimes rings out of the blue — used their moments on the line with him to underscore that Putin threatened U.S. interests. French President Emmanuel Macron has been especially helpful, two European diplomats said, using his long-standing — albeit sometimes bumpy — relationship with Trump to hammer at the idea that supporting Ukraine will help deliver wins for the White House. The two leaders speak almost every other day, the diplomats said, calling each other directly for impromptu talks about the challenges of the moment. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also focused on building warm ties, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz helped in recent weeks after he struck up a good relationship with Trump following their first Oval Office meeting in early June. Finnish President Alexander Stubb — whose golf game is excellent — also possesses the presidential digits. NATO chief Mark Rutte, who sat in the Oval Office with the president as he announced the new weapon-sales plan, has been on a Trump charm offensive. After the February debacle, Zelensky calmed tensions in subsequent face-to-face interactions with Trump. At the urging of Macron and Starmer, Zelensky and Trump spoke privately, without aides, at the Vatican in April when both men were there for Pope Francis's funeral. That conversation helped reset the relationship, diplomats said. They met again in late June at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, where Zelensky brought a wish list of weapons alongside a proposal: The United States could keep weapons flowing if the Europeans helped Kyiv pay, three European officials said. The NATO meeting seemed to go a long way toward patching the relationship, the officials said. One official described the meeting in The Hague as 'instrumental.' Another noted that Zelensky arrived in a suit-like jacket and shirt, after having been chastised for showing up at the White House in his more favored military-style fatigues. (Zelensky has said he'll wear a suit once the war is over.) In their own conversations with Trump, European leaders sought to flip the script and assert that Putin was obstructing the president's ambitions to end the war. And last month, NATO officials made a concerted effort to deliver Trump a diplomatic win by promising a giant increase in European military outlays and tailoring the NATO summit to his attention span and his desire to declare successes. A European diplomat said it was made clear to Zelensky that the NATO summit would focus on defense spending and putting on a 'Trump show,' and could be less focused on Ukraine than in years past. Creating a meeting that appealed to Trump would benefit Kyiv, even if there were fewer fresh promises for Ukraine in the NATO leaders' declaration, diplomats told Zelensky. The bet paid off. Both Trump and Zelensky left their meeting in The Hague feeling it was 'very friendly,' the European official said. Trump's softened tone could be seen in an exchange between the president and a Ukrainian reporter for the BBC during a news conference at the NATO meeting. The reporter asked Trump whether he would sell Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. The president expressed sympathy to the reporter about the fact that she was living in Poland with her children while her husband fought on Ukraine's front lines. Zelensky and the European leaders' efforts 'built up to this moment,' the European official said. 'It might have changed the trajectory. … There has been very careful work to help with this relationship,' he said. In conversations with European leaders, Trump expressed frustration after speaking with Putin, who he said seemed intent on seizing more Ukrainian territory, a second official said. In his July 4 call with Zelensky, Trump said that Ukraine would not change the course of the war by playing defense and needed to go on the offensive, the Ukrainian official said. When Trump asked if Ukraine could bomb Moscow or St. Petersburg, the official said, Zelensky replied, 'If we have the right weapons we can.' The Financial Times first reported elements of the call. Asked about the call earlier this week, Trump said, 'No, he shouldn't target Moscow.' He added that he wouldn't supply longer-range weaponry to Ukraine that would enable it to hit the Russian capital. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump had asked Zelensky about Ukraine's ability to hit Russian territory but said the question had been taken out of context. Trump was simply seeking information, not advocating that Zelensky do it, she said. Now Trump has set a 50-day clock for Russia to reach a peace deal before imposing 100 percent tariffs on Russian imports and secondary sanctions against buyers of Russian energy. New U.S. weaponry could reach Ukraine much faster than that, a second Ukrainian official said. Longer-range ATACMS missiles and other weapons 'could change the trajectory at least for the next six months, or maybe more,' the official said. 'If it is concentrated support for 50 days, that would be great.' Still, Trump has zigzagged so often that some officials were reluctant to describe it as a change of heart. 'He seems to be realizing that he can't trust Putin,' the second European official said. 'So things are positive, until they change again.' O'Grady reported from Kyiv, Francis reported from Brussels and Belton reported from London. Emily Davies in Washington and David L. Stern and Lizzie Johnson in Kyiv contributed to this report.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Trump envoy arrives in Kyiv as U.S. pledges Patriot missiles to Ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, left, meets with United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Joseph Keith Kellogg, at a train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 14, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday, a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration's policy on the more than three-year war. Trump last week teased that he would make a 'major statement' on Russia on Monday. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin's unbudging stance on U.S-led peace efforts. Trump has long boasted of his friendly relationship with Putin and after taking office in January repeatedly said that Russia was more willing than Ukraine to reach a peace deal. At the same time, Trump accused Zelenskyy of prolonging the war and called him a 'dictator without elections.' But Russia's relentless onslaught against civilian areas of Ukraine wore down Trump's patience. In April, Trump urged Putin to 'STOP!' launching deadly barrages on Kyiv, and the following month said in a social media post that the Russian leader ' has gone absolutely CRAZY!' as the bombardments continued. 'I am very disappointed with President Putin, I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,' Trump said late Sunday. 'He'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.' The European Union can't buy weapons Trump confirmed the U.S. is sending Ukraine badly needed U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles to help it fend off Russia's intensifying aerial attacks. Trump said that the European Union will pay the U.S. for the 'various pieces of very sophisticated' weaponry it is sending. However, the EU is not allowed under its treaties to buy weapons. EU member countries are buying and sending weapons to Ukraine, just as NATO member countries are buying and sending weapons. EU countries set up the European Peace Facility so that countries which supply arms to Ukraine could be refunded to backfill their own stocks. Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine's air defenses are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said Thursday. Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said. That has happened at the same time as Russia's bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line. Trump ally says war at inflection point A top ally of Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Sunday that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia's full-scale invasion. It's a cause that Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of U.S. taxpayer money. 'In the coming days, you'll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,' Graham said on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' He added: 'One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has made is to play Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there's going to be a massive effort to get Putin to the table.' Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for international investment who took part in talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia in February, dismissed what he said were efforts to drive a wedge between Moscow and Washington. 'Constructive dialogue between Russia and the United States is more effective than doomed-to-fail attempts at pressure,' Dmitriev said in a post on Telegram. 'This dialogue will continue, despite titanic efforts to disrupt it by all possible means.' 'Equal dialogue, mutual respect, realism and economic cooperation are the foundations of global security,' he added, echoing comments by Putin. NATO chief visits Washington NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. He planned to hold talks with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of Congress. Talks during Kellogg's visit to Kyiv will cover 'defense, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,' said the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andrii Yermak. 'Russia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump's principle, and we support this approach,' Yermak said. Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor's office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said. Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defenses downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea. ___ Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed. ___ Illia Novikov, The Associated Press
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump ready to send weapons to Ukraine again, get tough on Russia
KYIV — President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv a day after Trump said the United States would soon send Patriot missile interceptors to Ukraine — marking an optimistic turn for the country in a brutal summer of deadly aerial attacks and demoralizing news from Washington. In a Telegram post, Andriy Yermak — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff — is shown greeting Kellogg as he disembarked a blue train Monday morning, wrapping him in a hug. They planned to discuss 'defense, security strengthening, weapons, sanctions' and more, Yermak said, in a sign of renewed support for Ukraine. 'Peace through strength is the principle of U.S. President Donald Trump, and we support this approach,' he said on Telegram. Nearly two weeks have passed since Ukrainian officials were caught off guard by the United States' decision to pause weapons deliveries to Kyiv, but the tides now seem to be turning. On Sunday, Trump took a dramatically tougher stance on Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling reporters that he was 'disappointed' with Putin. 'I thought he was somebody that meant what he said,' Trump said. 'And he'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that.' While he hadn't 'agreed on the number yet,' Trump said the United States would soon send Patriots to Ukraine, paid for by the European Union. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) pledged that 'a turning point regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine is coming,' adding that Trump had left the door open to the Kremlin in recent months — but that it was 'about to close.' Graham also alluded to additional sanctions against Russia. 'Stay tuned about a plan to go after the seized assets more aggressively,' Graham told CBS. 'Stay tuned for a plan where America will begin to sell to our European allies tremendous amounts of weapons that can benefit Ukraine.'
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US special envoy Kellogg arrives in Kyiv: Zelenskyy aid
US special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv Monday, the top aide in the Ukrainian presidency said, after US President Donald Trump announced new Patriot air defense systems supplies to the country. 'We welcome US Special Representative Keith Kellogg to Ukraine,' Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram, adding 'peace through strength is the principle of US President Donald Trump, and we support this approach.' Developing...
CNA
10-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Russian attack on Kyiv kills two as US resumes arms deliveries to Ukraine
KYIV: Russian drones and missiles bore down on the Ukrainian capital early on Thursday (Jul 10), with officials reporting two deaths, 16 injured and fires in apartment and non-residential buildings as Washington resumed weapons deliveries to the war-torn country. Escalating Russian attacks have strained Ukrainian air defences at a perilous moment in the war and forced thousands of people to seek bomb shelters overnight. "Residential buildings, vehicles, warehouse facilities, office and non-residential buildings are on fire," head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia launched 18 missiles and around 400 drones in an attack which primarily targeted the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. There was no comment from Moscow about the attack, which came a day after Russia launched a single-night record number of drones targeting its smaller neighbour in what Ukrainians describe as terror tactics. "Approaches to warfare changed a long time ago, and in its quest to break our society through terror, Russia has opted for combined strikes," the head of Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak said. Russia says its attacks aim to degrade Ukraine's military. The Russian defence ministry said its own air defence units had destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones overnight, RIA state news agency reported. After US President Donald Trump pledged earlier this week to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv, Washington was already delivering artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles to Ukraine, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday. Zelenskyy held a "substantive" meeting on Wednesday with Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, in Rome ahead of a Ukrainian recovery conference. On Thursday, he will hold more meetings with American officials to discuss the adoption of the next package of US sanctions against Russia in the near future, according to the Ukrainian foreign minister. Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated with President Vladimir Putin, saying that the Russian leader was throwing a lot of "bullshit" at the US efforts to end the war that Moscow launched against Ukraine in February 2022. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers ' meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the US State Department and Russia's foreign ministry said. The Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday rattled the city with explosions, Reuters' witnesses said. Videos showed windows blown out, devastated facades and cars burned down. Ukrainian officials said that damage was reported in eight of the city's 10 districts. "I turned around and saw that the apartment was gone, and a fire had also broken out," said Karyna Volf, a 25-year-old Kyiv resident who rushed out of her place moments before shards of glass went flying. "This is terror, because it happens every night when people are asleep." Thick smoke covered parts of Kyiv, darkening the red hues of a sunrise over the city of three million, Reuters' witnesses reported. Air raids in the capital lasted more than four hours, according to Ukraine's air force data. Closer to the battle zone, a Russian air strike killed three people and injured one late on Wednesday in the front-line town of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine's east, the national emergency services said.
