Zelensky holds his first call with Trump’s envoys since the diesel deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Sunday with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the envoys of President Donald Trump, Reuters reported¹. Axios said it was the first call between Zelensky and senior US officials since tensions spiked between the two countries after Trump cut a diesel deal with Russia 10 days ago, that the call lasted around 40 minutes, and that Zelensky raised the possibility of an in-person meeting in the coming days².

Zelensky said on X that he had held a conversation with the American president’s envoys and that Russia’s war on Ukraine must be brought to an end, Al Jazeera reported⁶. The Kyiv Independent headlined his assessment that a great deal depends on America’s position⁵. Ukrainska Pravda said the call covered meetings by the teams in Florida and continuing Russian strikes⁷.

Intelligence sharing and the Starlink dispute

Zelensky also said the United States has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after a pause^3,4. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC that Ukraine gets US help that Russia does not receive, citing intelligence sharing among other support³.

Axios reported that the call took place against Zelensky’s assertions that the Trump administration was behind restrictions imposed on the Starlink and Starshield satellite services². That accusation is the Ukrainian president’s; the administration’s position on it is contested.

Politico reported Zelensky offering a sharp defence of his deteriorating relationship with Trump, and saying it is not right to compare him and Putin⁸.

The dispute matters because it concerns capability rather than rhetoric. Zelensky has said the restrictions limit how Ukraine can use the service, and Ukrainian officials have not established whether the decision was political or commercial².

What to watch

The near-term test is whether the in-person meeting Zelensky raised actually happens, and where². Al Jazeera’s account places the call inside a wider push to restart talks⁶, and Axios frames it as US efforts to resume peace negotiations with Russia².

The second test is durability. Intelligence sharing resumed after a pause rather than never having stopped^3,4, and the Kyiv Independent’s framing is that Ukraine’s position now depends heavily on decisions made in Washington⁵. For European defence and energy pricing, the variable is not the call itself but whether the rupture that preceded it recurs.

Reuters framed the call as part of a continuing contact between Kyiv and the envoys rather than a breakthrough¹, and Ukrainska Pravda’s account of the agenda, covering the Florida meetings and continuing Russian strikes on Ukraine, suggests the practical questions are unresolved⁷.