(Oct 16): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has only one ally now and that’s Europe, the Latvian prime minister said, referring to Kyiv’s spiralling tensions with the US.

The Ukrainian president is set to meet European Union (EU) leaders in Brussels on Friday, just days after he said he felt betrayed by US President Donald Trump over a diesel deal with Russia and temporary restrictions placed on intelligence assistance.

“We see that Zelenskiy has only one ally now, it’s actually the Europeans,” Kulbergs told Bloomberg TV in an interview. “The most important thing that we’re going to discuss today is what he needs for this winter. It’s all about this winter.”

In the span of a week, Trump has trashed years of energy sanctions on the Kremlin in a bid to lower energy prices ahead of Nov 3 midterm elections, pressured Kyiv to quit bombing Russian oil refineries and suggested Zelenskiy should step aside as president.

Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries, ending a three-day pause in response to Trump’s calls for an “energy ceasefire,” after access to Starlink internet terminals was restored. Zelenskiy this week said Ukraine was “losing a strong partner”, referring to the US. 

Still, Kulbergs cautioned that much of the current tensions are due to domestic issues in the US at a special time he said can’t be taken as a general indicator for the state of the relationship.

‘We also have to understand that the United States is now running into the midterms. It’s election time,” Kulbergs said. “That’s a different vibe.”

Oil prices have surged after Iran closed the strait of Hormuz following strikes by the US and Israel. Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release 2.25 million barrels of diesel in October, and more in the coming months, ahead of the midterm elections where high energy prices have angered voters. 

Without the higher oil prices Russia would have a “total budget deficit, and would have nowhere to get financing,” Kulbergs said. “The Hormuz effect pulled them out of the water”. 

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