Zelensky: Ukraine's negotiating team used as a "screen" while Trump and Putin strike deals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine's negotiating team in the United States is being used as a "screen" (in Ukrainian, "ширма") against the backdrop of agreements between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Zelensky, these agreements concern fuel supplies.

The statement was reported on 9 October 2026 by Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian news outlet. The report contains only the Ukrainian leader's own claim about how the delegation in the US is being used while contacts between Trump and Putin continue.

The source text does not say what exactly the reported fuel arrangements involve, when or in what format they were reached, or what topics are being discussed in the Ukrainian team's talks in the US. It also does not indicate whether Washington or Moscow has responded to the statement.

The remark relates to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to end it, in which the United States is one of the parties involved. Zelensky's wording points to Kyiv's dissatisfaction with the fact that, in his view, the work of the Ukrainian delegation in the US serves as cover for separate US–Russia arrangements.

According to the president, the Ukrainian negotiating team in this situation acts as a facade while the main decisions are discussed between Trump and Putin. Zelensky offers no broader explanation or specific details about the supplies in the source text.