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Zelenskyy's Smile Draws Laughter at EU Summit After Question on Trump's Midterm Troubles
ReZelenskyy's Smile Draws Laughter at EU Summit After Question on Trump's Midterm Troubles
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to answer a question about whether he is being scapegoated for President Trump's political problems, responding with an eight-second pause and a smile that drew laughter from the audience at the European Council summit in Brussels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to directly answer a question about whether he is being treated as a scapegoat for President Donald Trump's political difficulties, responding instead with an eight-second pause and a smile that drew laughter from the audience at the European Council summit in Brussels on Friday.
The exchange came at the close of Zelenskyy's press conference when Sky News Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkall asked the Ukrainian leader about Trump's political standing. Bunkall noted that Trump is facing difficult midterm elections, that his personal popularity is low, that diesel prices in the United States are high, and that the war Trump started in the Middle East is not going as he wants. He then asked Zelenskyy whether he believed he was being treated as a scapegoat for Trump's own problems.
Zelenskyy paused for about eight seconds, looked down at his podium, and then smiled at the audience. The room broke into laughter as Zelenskyy opened his hand toward the crowd. «This is my answer,» he said, prompting a second wave of laughter. Bunkall responded, «Thank you so much.»
The question followed a week of escalating tension between Washington and Kyiv. Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel, then blamed Zelenskyy's strikes on Russian oil refineries for high U.S. diesel prices. «I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president,» Trump told reporters at the White House the next day, according to Al Jazeera. Trump also said Zelenskyy «wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,» according to Euronews.
Euronews reported that Trump places the blame for diesel prices solely on Zelenskyy, but the refinery strikes are part of Ukraine's defense against the invasion Russia launched in 2022. Ukrainian drones were striking Russian refineries months before the Iran war, hitting two major plants in a single night in August 2025, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
U.S. diesel prices surged after Trump launched his war with Iran on Feb. 28, rising from $3.81 a gallon to $6.19 by early October, according to Energy Information Administration figures cited in an Al Jazeera analysis. That analysis found the figures show the war in Ukraine changed prices little. The spike has become a political liability for Republicans ahead of next month's midterm elections, Al Jazeera reported.
Zelenskyy pushed back on the blame during an interview with ABC News the day after Trump called for his replacement. «Prices are rising because of the war in the Middle East, the blocking of Hormuz,» Zelenskyy said, according to Mother Jones.
Tensions also spread to Ukraine's military internet on Wednesday when a Zelenskyy adviser said SpaceX had slowed Starlink satellite service on moving terminals without warning Ukraine's forces, CNBC reported. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X about Starshield, the military version of Starlink, that «any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military, and ultimately POTUS [the president].» SpaceX began restoring Starlink speeds that day, CNBC reported, even though Musk insisted his company had nothing to do with the limits.
«I am sure they knew what they did, absolutely,» Zelenskyy told British journalist Piers Morgan that day, referring to Trump and Musk. «I'll be frank—this was a very unpleasant and dangerous surprise regarding the 'Starlink' satellites,» Zelenskyy said when asked about it again at Friday's press conference.
Trump kept up his criticism Thursday, a day before the press conference, calling Ukraine's renewed refinery strikes a «disgrace» after Kyiv dropped his energy ceasefire. «I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin,» Trump told Newsmax.
The summit exchange underscored the unusual public friction between the two leaders as Trump's domestic political pressures mount ahead of the midterms. Zelenskyy's silent response, met with laughter from the audience, avoided direct engagement with the question while drawing attention to the tensions without a verbal reply.
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