Zelenskyy Holds Closed-Door Meeting with U.S. Senators, Urges Them to Turn Up the Heat on Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met virtually Monday with members of the Senate and asked them to press the Trump administration over what he described as limits on intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries.
The closed-door call was led by Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut.
The meeting included other members of both the House and Senate, Axios reported.
Zelenskyy told the lawmakers that Starlink and the U.S. military’s Starshield systems remain partially restricted, that Ukraine has gone without early warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks on three occasions in the past week, and that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has not signed off on Patriot interceptors and AIM-9X missiles already paid for by NATO countries.
“All of this suggests that some political decision has been made to slow down support for us,” he said, according to a transcript Ukrainian officials provided to Axios. “We want to understand what is happening, why it’s happening, and where all of this is heading.”
Ukrainian officials have said the restrictions began after President Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia during recent talks in Miami.
They claimed that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner warned that continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries could lead to cuts in U.S. intelligence and weapons sales.
U.S. officials denied making any such threat. Trump has said the United States is still sharing intelligence.
“Frankly Zelenskyy is not helping matters much. He doesn’t want to stop the war,” Trump told reporters Monday. “Maybe it’s time for Zelenskyy to let somebody else negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
A reporter told Trump that Zelenskyy said he was “on the wrong side of history.” Trump replied, “Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” and repeated that Ukraine could have reached a deal earlier if Zelenskyy had listened.
REPORTER: “Zelenskyy says you’re on the wrong side of history.”
TRUMP: “Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
President Trump fires back at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, arguing that Ukraine could have reached a peace deal long ago if Zelenskyy had listened to him.
“Maybe it’s time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate.”
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 19, 2026
Tillis said after the meeting that Congress “remains committed to standing with Ukraine and our European allies to end Russia’s brutal aggression and secure lasting peace.”
Blumenthal posted that “bipartisan support for Ukraine was clear and unequivocal, which we’ll be expressing in upcoming action,” and that “appeasement won’t work with Putin, a thug who understands only strength and force.”
Politico reported that Zelenskyy also raised Trump’s decision to waive certain Russia sanctions and that the lawmakers called the combination of steps “impediments to peace.”
THREAD: Joined Senator Tillis today to host an update from President Zelenskyy with bipartisan colleagues—hearing from him highly alarmingly that intelligence sharing & Starshield access are still partially degraded. 1/
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) October 19, 2026
Zelenskyy told the group he had proposed to Witkoff and Kushner a 30-day halt to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries in exchange for U.S. Patriot interceptors during that period.
He said the envoys had not shown openness to the idea.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to be in Oslo next week and could meet the envoys there before they continue to Moscow, a source told Axios.
Thank you, @SenBlumenthal and @SenThomTillis, for the opportunity to meet with you and your colleagues from both parties and both chambers of Congress. I informed them about Russia’s brutal “shahed” drone attack in the Kharkiv region, where Russia killed six people, including a mother and her child, who was just over a year old. I showed the horrifying photos from the scene – a child killed in a stroller… This is how Russia responds to sanctions waivers and reduced pressure.
I also explained where things stand with intelligence sharing and Starlink operations in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we received no early warning from our partners about the first wave of the Russian ballistic missile attack last night. And we still face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front. No explanation for either of these issues has been provided to Ukraine by the American side.
Our teams will follow up on everything discussed today. I thank everybody who participated in this call for their strong support.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 19, 2026
Zelenskyy later posted that he had informed the lawmakers of a recent Russian drone attack in the Kharkiv region that killed six people, including a mother and her child, and that he still had no explanation from the American side on the intelligence and Starlink issues.
The call was the latest step in Zelenskyy’s effort to get Congress to push the White House on the support he says has slowed.
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