Zelenskyy juggles between strained Washington, relentless Moscow, weary Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy finds himself navigating one of the most complex phases of the war yet — fighting on the battlefield, defending Ukraine’s diplomatic position abroad, and managing the growing humanitarian toll at home as Russia intensifies its strikes on critical infrastructure.

His reportedly tense meeting with US President Donald Trump last week encapsulated that struggle. Zelenskyy described the talks, which lasted more than two hours, as “positive”, though he admitted disappointment at leaving Washington without the Tomahawk missiles Kyiv had sought. According to him, Trump withdrew the offer after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin hours before their meeting.

“In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them,” Zelenskyy told journalists on Sunday. Trump has urged both sides to “stop where they are” and freeze the conflict along the current front line — a proposal Ukraine views warily but cannot afford to dismiss outright.

Zelenskyy said Trump informed him that Putin’s demands remained maximalist — a full Ukrainian withdrawal from Donetsk and Luhansk. He also noted Moscow’s vague offer to swap some of its occupied territory in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in return for those eastern regions. “The proposal was unclear,” he said, adding that Kyiv’s position on territorial integrity remained unchanged.

Despite lingering frustration, Zelenskyy struck a diplomatic tone. “We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war,” he said, signalling that Kyiv would cautiously engage with Washington’s peace efforts ahead of Trump’s upcoming meeting with Putin in Budapest.

That summit — to be hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of the EU’s most Moscow-friendly leaders — has stirred anxiety in Kyiv and across Europe. Zelenskyy said he has not been invited to attend and questioned whether Orbán could be a credible mediator, remarking that “a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere cannot do anything positive for Ukrainians.”

🤯 Insane details from an FT article (link below) about a Trump-Zelenskyy meeting:

Trump reportedly "cursing all the time," adopting Putin's "special operation" talking points.

Told Zelenskyy to "cut a deal or face destruction."

Threw Ukraine's battlefield maps aside, saying… pic.twitter.com/PwT3r3eOB9

— Sukh Sandhu (@SukhSandhu) October 21, 2025

Donald Trump urges Russia, Ukraine to ‘stop’ war, ‘let both claim victory’ The war’s invisible front: Darkness and disruption

While diplomatic manoeuvres unfold abroad, the impact of Russia’s renewed bombing campaign is being felt acutely across Ukraine’s cities and small towns.

In the northern town of Shostka, 50 km from the Sumy front line, residents are once again enduring prolonged blackouts. When a Russian strike in early October knocked out power, water, and gas, 40-year-old Zinaida Kot, who relies on dialysis for kidney disease, feared for her life. “Without electricity, the machine that keeps me alive stops working,” she said.

Across Shostka, the hum of generators fills streets lined with autumn leaves. Cafés, hospitals, and apartment blocks rely on backup power, while “invincibility points” provide residents with places to charge phones and keep warm.

At the local hospital, staff have reverted to using a wood-burning oven built during the early days of the invasion. “We feed at least 180 patients daily,” said nurse Svitlana Zakotei, explaining that power is rationed to prioritise the dialysis ward. One of eight dialysis machines has already burned out from the fluctuating power supply, according to hospital director Oleh Shtohryn. Keeping generators running costs around 250,000 hryvnias — nearly $6,000 — a week, roughly equivalent to the hospital’s usual monthly electricity bill.

Russia’s attacks have grown more targeted and effective. In previous winters, Moscow launched mass strikes on Ukraine’s national grid. This year, it appears to be targeting regions individually, overwhelming local air defences with swarms of drones.

“They’re getting better at knowing how to attack,” said Svitlana Kalysh, a spokeswoman for Sumy’s regional energy company. “They hit where our protection is weakest.”

Electrical technician Bohdan Bilous put it more grimly: “We fix the same lines again and again. It’s our job — but the reality is extremely cruel right now.”

In Chernihiv, the scars of repeated strikes are everywhere — craters in the asphalt, shattered transformer stations, and buildings pockmarked by shrapnel. Even after major repairs, the city operates at half capacity.

Analysts say Russia’s new strategy — sending multiple waves of Shahed drones to saturate defences — makes it harder for Ukraine to keep up. “Last year, Russia couldn’t launch 500 drones at once,” said one energy official. “Now it can. And even if we have mobile units everywhere, they simply send more.”

Trump defames Zelenskyy: "He's always looking to purchase missiles. Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know you can win a war. You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.pic.twitter.com/jI2eEO4Jvk

— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) October 21, 2025

Ukrainian drones strike major Russian gas plant Europe’s Uneasy Unity

As the humanitarian cost mounts and Kyiv’s military momentum slows, European leaders are working to maintain a united front. On Tuesday, eight European heads of government — joined by senior EU officials — issued a joint statement with Ukraine accusing Vladimir Putin of “stalling for time” in peace negotiations.

The statement was both a show of support for Trump’s diplomatic efforts and a subtle warning. While the leaders backed calls for a ceasefire, they stressed that “international borders must not be changed by force”, a clear rejection of any plan requiring Ukraine to surrender territory for peace.

Trump’s own position has fluctuated. After months of insisting Ukraine could not win without ceding land, he abruptly reversed himself, then shifted again after a phone call with Putin last week. His latest suggestion that Kyiv and Moscow “stop where they are” — effectively freezing the conflict — has unsettled both Zelenskyy and his European partners.

Ukraine and its allies fear that such a freeze would leave Russia in control of roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and allow Moscow to rebuild its forces for future offensives. “A frozen war would not bring peace — it would only bring new dangers,” said a European diplomat familiar with the talks.

Despite differing views on tactics, the joint statement underlined that the EU remains committed to supporting Kyiv financially and militarily. Leaders confirmed plans to redirect billions in frozen Russian assets abroad to fund Ukraine’s war effort, despite legal concerns raised by some member states. “We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and defence industry until Putin is ready to make peace,” it said.

Zelenskyy, for his part, continues to walk a fine line — welcoming Trump’s engagement while trying to ensure that Western unity holds. His government is seeking to accelerate the delivery of Patriot air-defence systems and is negotiating for bilateral gas and nuclear energy projects with the United States. But for many Ukrainians, the immediate concern is far more basic: keeping the lights — and the machines that sustain life — on through another brutal winter.

With agency inputs