Trump laments Russia's oil decline; Zelenskyy counters that Ukraine retaliates against aggressor
Trump blamed Ukraine for Russia's refinery losses, while Zelenskyy reminded him who started the war.
What to know
- Trump expressed sympathy for Russia's oil industry decline caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries, prompting Zelenskyy to remind him Ukraine is retaliating, not the aggressor.
- Zelenskyy outlined Ukraine's repeated diplomatic proposals and proposed de-escalation steps—contingent on Russia ceasing attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and energy targets.
- Trump and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet at the UN General Assembly, where these tensions over framing and strategy will face direct discussion.
The dispute Trump's concern for Russia's economic losses versus Zelenskyy's assertion that Ukraine is merely retaliating against Russian invasion and has made repeated peace proposals.
Trump's framing implicitly blames Ukraine for destabilizing Russia's economy through attacks, regardless of Russia's role as initial aggressor.
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“Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine.”
Donald Trump · TruthSocial/HuffPost ↗
Zelenskyy argues Ukraine is justified in retaliating against Russian aggression and that the war's consequences for Russia are a direct result of Russia's invasion.
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“Ukraine's president hit back by reminding the president once again who was the aggressor in the conflict.”
HuffPost (summarizing Zelenskyy) · HuffPost ↗
“The nature of war is now such that the aggressor will suffer as well. Technology makes this possible.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President · X (post) ↗
Donald Trump US President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian President
Vladimir Putin Russian President
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articles
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Trump and Zelenskyy scheduled to meet at UN General Assembly
Zelenskyy is set to meet Trump at the United Nations' General Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the conflict and potential pathways to peace.
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Zelenskyy responds that Ukraine is retaliating against Russian aggression, not the aggressor
Ukraine's president hit back at Trump's framing, reminding him of the sequence of events: Russia invaded Ukraine over four and a half years ago. Zelenskyy outlined Ukraine's consistent push for peace through diplomatic proposals and described the nature of the conflict as one where the aggressor is now suffering consequences of technology.
“From the very first minute, Ukraine has sought peace. We have already made dozens of diplomatic proposals on how to end this war with dignity, guarantee security, and prevent new Russian invasions.”
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy -
background
Trump posts concern about Russia's oil industry losses to Ukrainian attacks — Donald Trump wrote on TruthSocial that "Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine," noting that refineries have been blown up and are temporarily out of commission. He described the situation as a shame, citing 25,000 people being killed monthly.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Yahoo News Canada, 2d ago · also HuffPost