Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and NBC News’s Kristen Welker, October 18, 2026
EA-Silicon Curtain VideoCast: Trump Has Joined Russia In War v. Ukraine
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Donald Trump’s Betrayal and Alliance with Putin
EA-Silicon Curtain VideoCast: Trump Has Joined Russia In War v. Ukraine
Sunday’s Coverage: Trump Camp Proposes Renewed Europe Purchases of Russia’s Gas
UPDATE 0618 GMT:
Seizing the advantage of Donald Trump’s shift towards the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin is proposing a summit next month with Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping, say people familiar with the discussions.
A “former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter” said Putin’s suggestion came in an October 9 call with Trump, who was preparing to announce purchases of Russian diesel fuel.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the Trump Administration has restored intelligence sharing with Kyiv, after both early-warning intelligence and access to Starlink’s military service was restricted last week.
In an interview with the US outlet NBC News on Sunday, Zelensky said the Trump camp had limited Starshield — affecting Ukraine’s frontline operations and its air defenses — so Donald Trump could send a “message” as he demanded a halt to Kyiv’s strikes on Russian refineries.
Trump announced the purchase of Russian diesel fuel, undercutting US sanctions, on October 9. In the following days, early-warning intelligence was suspended amid Russia’s missile and drone strikes targeting civilian sites and energy infrastructure. On Wednesday, Starshield was restricted, continuing at slower speeds until the weekend.
Zelensky told Meet The Press’s Kristin Welker, “It was a message from [the] American government to limit the speed. And technically, SpaceX did it.”
He said of intelligence sharing:
It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works.
Only United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.
Zelenskyy: "If the United States supports Putin, it's unbelievable, it's a tragedy. It's a historic mistake. If United States officially takes the side of Russia, of course we will not prevail and we will not be able to stand."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Zelensky said of Donald Trump, who also refused to implement Congressional legislation mandating tougher sanctions on Russia and top customers for its oil and gas:
I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think it’s all mistakes. It will not help us and it will not help the United States. But it’s not my choice. And I hope he will change his attitude to Putin….We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s the aggressor.
Zelensky said he spoke by phone on Sunday with Trump’s envoys, son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The chat was mainly about their talks with Ukrainian and European officials in Miami last weekend, when the envoys delivered the threat to cut intelligence.
Trump Camp Continues Its Threats v. Zelensky
Trump and his inner circle continued their verbal assault on Zelensky yesterday.
Trump claimed “great progress” on ending Russia’s 56-month full-scale invasion. However, he claimed, “Zelensky doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him…he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent chided:
President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump Administration did that. And I think it is very reckless for President Zelensky to make such a charge.
President Zelensky should be very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true.
WELKER: Zelenskyy just said he believes the govt slowed Starlink. Can you definitely say no one in the administration ordered restrictions?
BESSENT: Trump & Rubio have categorically said no one in the admin did that. Zelenskyy should be very careful about making reckless statements like that
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Donald Trump don’t want take advantage of zelensky