Trump Turns on Ukraine

Ryan Knutson (0:06)

Last week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was on an overnight train. According to a person present, he was in a gloomy mood.

Marcus Walker (0:16)

He was on his way to meet the British prime minister in London and European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels, where he was seeking reassurance from Ukraine's European allies that they were still standing by him.

Ryan Knutson (0:29)

Our colleague Marcus Walker covers Ukraine.

Marcus Walker (0:32)

While he was on this train, he and his inner circle of advisors received the news that for the second time in two days, Russian missiles had landed on Kiev, had hit energy infrastructure, that is power plants, with no warning, without the usual warning from US intelligence that there had been missile launches.

Ryan Knutson (0:52)

These warnings from US intelligence have been essential for Ukraine. They allow civilians to take cover and give military a chance to try to intercept Russian missiles.

And that wasn't the only news involving American assistance that made Zelensky worry.

Marcus Walker (1:06)

A few hours later, Zelensky received another message, namely from Ukraine's military, saying that their military Starlink terminals were certainly not working at full speed, that is, their drones were losing connectivity if they were flying over 100 miles an hour. And that led to the failure, with no warning, of some of their strike missions against Russian forces in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Ryan Knutson (1:31)

Taken together, these developments signaled to Zelensky that the US was turning its back on Ukraine.

Marcus Walker (1:38)

So in between these two pieces of news, which seemed very suspicious to the Ukrainian leader, he decided that he needs to take the gloves off and speak clearly about President Trump and his moves to try and court and accommodate Russia.

Ryan Knutson (1:58)

In interviews with British media, including Piers Morgan, Zelensky spoke out about the US president.

Volodymyr Zelensky (2:04)

It's a pity that we are losing. We are losing strong partner.

So this is my opinion.

Piers Morgan (2:14)

You think you're losing America?

Volodymyr Zelensky (2:16)

Yeah, but not because of us.

Marcus Walker (2:19)

And this was a very risky decision because, of course, criticism of Trump could and has led to further blowback, to further angry statements towards Zelensky by Trump.

Volodymyr Zelensky (2:29)

That's why it's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side, but we are okay. But he went further.

Marcus Walker (2:38)

He attacked Trump's attitude to Putin. He accused Trump of having an admiration for dictators and strong men and people who rule their country for 20, 30, 40 years and also amassed enormous wealth while doing so.

Volodymyr Zelensky (2:53)

I don't know who is pushing him not to the right side. This is not right side of history.

Marcus Walker (3:00)

So there was a broadside from Zelensky against Trump's persistently favorable attitudes over the years towards Putin of Russia.

Ryan Knutson (3:10)

US officials say intelligence sharing with Ukraine continues and that the undetected Russian launches were due to bad weather. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of the military Starlink terminals. That's according to US officials and people familiar with the matter. Musk is the owner of SpaceX, which operates Starlink. SpaceX didn't respond to a request for comment.

Can you characterize this moment that we're in, in terms of Ukraine's relationship with the United States? Is this a major break?

Marcus Walker (3:42)

I would say this is the lowest points of a difficult relationship of the last two years.

Ryan Knutson (3:51)

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Ryan Knutson. It's Tuesday, October 20th.

Coming up on the show, Inside Trump's Turn on Zelensky and Ukraine.

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