Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European Union leaders on Friday to discuss continued support for his country, where he publicly thanked them for their backing. The summit took place amid reports of diplomatic friction between Ukraine and the United States concerning U.S. policy and public rhetoric.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Zelenskyy praised the support from European nations since the beginning of the war.
“I’m so thankful that we have such huge support from EU Council Commission and leaders – real leaders,” Zelenskyy said.
The meeting followed reports of a policy change regarding SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine. Citing a restriction of the service, Ukrainian First Deputy Minister for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport Serhiy Derkach told CNBC on Friday that Ukraine’s defense capabilities could be affected.
“With U.S. limiting the use of Starlinks on the battlefield, Russia feels that this is their moment to try and inflict even more pain and suffering on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure,” Derkach stated. “We are definitely moving towards very harsh weeks and months and need our partners’ support now more than ever.”
Ahead of the summit, some European officials reportedly expressed concerns over Zelenskyy’s public comments regarding U.S. President Donald Trump. The Financial Times, citing three officials familiar with the summit preparations, reported that some leaders planned to privately ask Zelenskyy to modify his public statements. Separately, Politico quoted an EU diplomat who described the Ukrainian president’s public criticism of Trump as “not helpful.”
The context for these discussions includes a recent “energy ceasefire” announced by President Trump, which proposed that Russia and Ukraine stop attacks on each other’s power infrastructure. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Russia did not respect the arrangement. He also confirmed that Ukraine had paused strikes on Russian energy targets for three days in accordance with the U.S. proposal, but he characterized a related deal involving Russian diesel supplies as “weak.”
Russian officials have not confirmed their agreement to the ceasefire, stating only that talks are “ongoing,” according to CNBC. Russian authorities did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
