Zelensky rallies European allies as US support for Ukraine wanes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to rally European allies on Thursday following an escalation in tensions with Washington. According to Free Malaysia Today, relations between Kyiv and the United States have soured since last week, when President Donald Trump eased sanctions on Russia in exchange for the release of diesel onto global markets. Zelensky stated that Kyiv would no longer abide by Trump's demands not to strike Russian oil refineries, a move France 24 reports he vowed to resume despite those demands.

Tensions have also been heightened by outages to a critical US-provided satellite system, which Free Malaysia Today reports has hampered the Ukrainian military's ability to counter Russian bombardments. In addition to meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels, Zelensky held several bilateral meetings with European leaders. Free Malaysia Today notes that European leaders have broadly supported Zelensky as they navigate the volatile relationship between Kyiv and Trump.

Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, Free Malaysia Today — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.