Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that restrictions on U.S. intelligence sharing and slower Starlink speeds are no longer warnings but measures Ukraine is already living with, in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera published Tuesday. It was his first sit-down with an Italian outlet since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin reached their so-called diesel agreement, a deal Zelensky has previously described as a betrayal. Speaking in a presidential palace room shortly after another air-raid alert, he said the pressure from Washington is unfair and that Italy, too, is a victim of Russian hybrid warfare.
Why it matters
The interview, given to correspondent based in Kyiv, marks one of Zelensky's most direct public accounts of how the American relationship has changed under Trump. According to Corriere della Sera, he framed the curbs as a break from the honesty he says partners owe one another, while insisting he still regards the U.S. president as an ally. The remarks land as Washington weighs how far to go in pressing Kyiv toward a settlement, and as European capitals, Rome among them, are asked to fill gaps in air defence.
"We pay for those weapons now"
Zelensky told the paper that the strategic bond with the United States has mattered since the start of the occupation and especially during the full-scale war, and that he remains grateful to the American public, to successive administrations and to both parties. He said he has always sought a relationship built on candour, fairness and transparency, and that he hides nothing from Trump. Differences of opinion and interest are acceptable, he argued, but the two peoples have far more in common than America and Russia do.
He noted that Ukraine receives American arms through programmes funded by Europeans, and that Kyiv now pays for those weapons. He said he wants open, honest and practical ties to continue.
According to the interview, Zelensky described what he put to Trump directly. He said he approached him as a partner: if Russian strikes go unanswered, that is unjust, and if the allies consider it necessary and cannot stop Putin, they should at least supply interceptors to shield energy infrastructure. Losses would still occur, he conceded, but such a step would be the conduct of a partner. Instead, he said, the missiles were not provided and Ukraine is simply told to stop. He then cited limits on intelligence and reduced Starlink bandwidth, saying these are no longer threats but facts on the ground.
Patriot missiles and the winter ahead
The interview follows reporting elsewhere that the Trump administration has not approved the transfer of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, according to the Washington Post, and Italian outlet Sky TG24 reported Zelensky accusing Washington of delaying missiles already paid for by Europe. In the Corriere interview he said that in Brussels he requested a further 70 billion for 2027 and 300 Patriot interceptors for the winter. He argued that some countries hold Patriot stocks and must help Ukraine prepare for the cold months, calling it in everyone's interest: if the skies are protected, more people will stay in the country, and more will return as the war moves toward its end.
He also said he told Trump's negotiating team on the previous day that Kyiv is ready to talk whenever Washington wants to discuss negotiations or a peace deal with Putin, personal matters aside, and that a meeting could happen as soon as this week. He was asked whether talks might resume after the U.S. midterms.
On Putin's proposal for a three-way meeting with Trump and Xi Jinping that excludes Ukraine, Zelensky said he wants clarity to avoid further surprises. He said the real concern is not only whether such a summit includes Kyiv, but that Putin's gradual exit from isolation has already begun. If Ukraine is on the agenda, he said, Ukraine should be consulted; on the rest he declined to comment, saying he does not know what would be discussed.
Security guarantees and the Italian channel
Putin has called his "security belt" inside Ukrainian territory non-negotiable. Asked what Western guarantees could make a ceasefire viable, Zelensky described a format with three components: Ukraine's army, the European Union and NATO. The army, he said, is a concrete guarantee that can reinforce European forces with its experience and personnel. NATO membership would mean belonging to the same security alliance, with the legal rights of allies. EU accession, he noted, depends on Europe, while NATO accession depends on Europe and the United States. If the alliance is not on offer, he asked what alternative is being proposed, and said Kyiv is ready to discuss equivalent guarantees under another name provided they carry the same legal weight. He stressed the discussion is about what can work, not merely what Ukraine wants, and that NATO membership would deter both sides.
On Italy, Zelensky said he has an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and respects her greatly, and that he is grateful to Italians and to those who have backed Ukraine from the start. He rejected the idea that Italy gives and Ukraine gives nothing back, pointing to shared expertise on weapons — which systems perform, which do not, and what Ukrainian engineers and soldiers have improved — and to productive cooperation between companies in both countries, including a strong relationship with Leonardo. That exchange, he said, also advances Italian technology. He also said he had just spoken by phone with Pope Leo XIV about evacuating civilians trapped in Russian-occupied areas, including people in Oleshky left without food.
Watch whether Washington approves Patriot transfers and restores intelligence cooperation before winter, and whether the negotiating contacts Zelensky says are open turn into a formal round of talks.
