Overnight on Saturday, Ukrainian drones set fire to an oil terminal in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city. Donald Trump had demanded that Kyiv stop hitting Russian energy sites.
On Sunday, the US president hit back on Truth Social. He wrote that Volodymyr Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did”.
The clash exposes a widening rift between Washington and Kyiv. It also revives an old charge: that Europe fights Russia with Ukrainian lives. Here is what you need to know.
What did Ukraine hit?
Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones across Russia in one of its largest raids of the war. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces downed 1,015 of them over 15 regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.
One key target was the Petersburg Oil Terminal, one of Russia’s biggest fuel export hubs. Drones also hit an oil depot, a bridge and a data centre in the city. The raid killed one person and wounded five, the city’s governor said.
Why is Trump so angry?
Fuel prices sit at the heart of this row. Diesel costs have soared, partly because of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Americans vote in midterm elections next month, and high prices hurt Trump’s Republicans.
On 9 October, Trump struck a deal with Vladimir Putin to let Russian diesel flow onto world markets. The next day, he urged Ukraine to find “a new leader who can make a deal”. He also warned that Zelensky “better damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries.
On 11 October, Trump announced that both sides had agreed to stop striking energy sites. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow confirmed any such deal. Ukraine paused its refinery strikes for three days, then resumed them.
Trump called that move a “disgrace”. He also said he found Zelensky harder to deal with than Putin. On 16 October, Trump invoked a waiver that shields Russia from sweeping penalties that Congress mandated.
Does Zelensky want the war to end?
Trump insists he does not. In his view, Russia wants a deal while Zelensky keeps dodging one.
Critics of Kyiv see a pattern behind this charge. Each time Washington pushes for calm, Ukraine strikes deeper into Russia. Kyiv broke the energy pause within days and then targeted Putin’s home city.
These critics argue that the raids aim to wreck diplomacy rather than win the war. Trump himself warned that such attacks could drive Russia away from the negotiating table. On this reading, Zelensky will keep attacking Russia whatever Washington says.
Kyiv’s recent strikes on Russian data centres feed this view. Zelensky had promised to “respond in kind” to Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres.
Is Europe using Ukraine as cannon fodder?
Moscow makes this argument most loudly. In September, Putin accused European leaders of using Ukrainians as cannon fodder to inflame the conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went further in late September. “I have no doubt that this is a war Europe is waging against us,” he said. At the UN, he accused European governments of arming Kyiv and obstructing peace talks.
Supporters of this view see a cold logic at work. Europe sends money and weapons, while Ukrainians do the fighting and dying. Every Russian loss weakens Moscow without costing European lives.
They point to a February article by the French, German and Polish foreign ministers. The ministers counted more than 1.2 million Russian troops dead, wounded or missing. To critics, such language shows that Europe sees the war as a way to bleed Russia dry.
Europe also keeps the money flowing. Last week in Brussels, Zelensky asked EU leaders for nearly $80bn more for next year. European Council President António Costa said now was no time to ease sanctions on Russia.
What do Kyiv and Europe say?
Zelensky rejects these claims. He says Russia attacked Ukraine’s energy sector 76 times in the week after Trump’s ceasefire announcement. Russian strikes killed 11 people across Ukraine in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, Ukrainian officials said.
Kyiv wants both sides to halt all energy strikes, not a one-sided pause. Zelensky also rejects any comparison with Putin, whom he calls the aggressor.
European leaders blame Moscow for the bloodshed. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Russia escalated, so Europe must increase the pressure.
What happens next in the Trump Zelensky row?
Diplomacy limps on despite the insults. On Sunday, Zelensky said he spoke with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Yet Kyiv faces another winter under relentless Russian bombardment. It cannot afford to lose American intelligence or air defence support. One European diplomat summed up Zelensky’s position bluntly: “He’s desperate.”
The Kremlin, meanwhile, shrugs off the raids. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov insists that Kyiv cannot “change the current course of events”.
When interviewers asked whether Trump remains Ukraine’s ally, Zelensky could only say he hoped so. That answer captures Kyiv’s uncertainty perfectly.
