Washington DC - President Donald Trump called Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries a "disgrace," in an interview published on Thursday.
"Well, I think that's a disgrace," Trump told broadcaster Newsmax when asked about Ukraine's renewed strikes, adding that they were driving up global energy prices.
The 80-year-old US leader took aim at his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, asserting that he was less willing than Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a compromise to end the war.
"It should end soon. I think they actually both would like to see it end," Trump said to Newsmax.
"But I think I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."
Against the backdrop of weakening ties with Trump, Zelensky met NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels and held a string of bilateral meetings with European leaders before he was set to join an EU summit on Friday.
The Ukrainian president had told The Financial Times that the pause in strikes against Russian refineries was "done" as Moscow was not abiding by ceasefire on hitting energy infrastructure that had been announced by Trump.
"It's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side," he said. "I think his advisors are wrong. This is not [the] right side of history."