European leaders rally around Zelenskyy at Brussels summit as Trump rift deepens

European leaders closed ranks around Volodymyr Zelenskyy at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, as the Ukrainian president’s relationship with Donald Trump hit a new low.

Arriving flanked by the EU’s top leadership, Zelenskyy praised the “real leaders” of Europe and said he saw no signals that Moscow was ready to end the war, with “energy needs” at the top of his agenda ahead of winter.

European Council President António Costa said now was “no time to withdraw the support to Ukraine” or “relieve Russia’s sanctions”, calling instead for increased support and pressure. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had backed Trump’s energy ceasefire, but Russia had not respected it “not a single minute” and had instead escalated.

The show of unity follows a bruising week. Relations between Kyiv and Washington soured after Trump eased sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel onto world markets. On Thursday, Trump called renewed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure a “disgrace” and told Newsmax he found Zelensky “more difficult to deal with than Putin”.

On Friday, Trump softened his tone, saying he had a “good” relationship with Zelensky and wanted him to do one thing — “settle the war”.

Ukraine had paused its refinery strikes for three days after Trump’s Sunday “energy ceasefire” announcement but resumed them when Russia did not reciprocate. Kyiv also reported disruptions to Starshield, the US-provided satellite system its military relies on, not yet fully restored.

Sources: CNN, CNN, SCMP