Zelensky rallies European allies as Trump ties slump
Oct 16, 2026
Volodymyr Zelensky is in Brussels with a clear message.
Ukraine needs more than solidarity.
It needs the weapons and money to keep fighting.
Ahead of Friday's EU summit, he met NATO chief Mark Rutte
and held talks with Poland's Donald Tusk
and French President Emmanuel Macron
as Paris pledges fresh support
for Ukraine's combat aviation this month.
France and Ukraine are also accelerating work
on a European anti-ballistic defence system
which Zelensky says should be operational by the end of the year.
But with Russian attacks intensifying, European leaders face
mounting pressure to turn those commitments into action.
The worst thing Europe could do at this moment is to look away.
Zelensky is calling for more ballistic missile interceptors
and ammunition for F-16 fighter jets.
He says Russia has launched around 1,000 drones since Wednesday.
But the latest disruption
to Starlink operations has exposed another vulnerability,
Ukraine's reliance on American technology
for battlefield communications.
Without these satellite links, the consequences could be devastating.
The satellite link connection is used
in interceptors for Russian jet drones.
And without even having the ability
to intercept the Russian jet drones,
it will be like a shooting gallery where Russian
jet drones can hit every residential building,
every museum, every hospital, every school that they just want to hit.
And as Kyiv seeks to shore up European backing,
its rift with Washington is widening.
Zelensky says he has resumed strikes on Russian oil infrastructure,
rejecting pressure from Donald Trump to halt them.
Ukraine is now looking to Europe to fill the gaps in weapons, funding
and political support as uncertainty of the United States grows.
The question now is how much Europe can deliver and how quickly.