Zelensky Quips He's 'Not Such a Big Humanitarian as Putin' as US Ties Sour

Ukraine's president is done pretending everything's fine with Washington. In an ABC News interview published Oct. 23, Volodymyr Zelensky described the Trump administration's recent moves as "not supportive" — then tossed in a jab that landed harder than any diplomatic statement. "I'm a normal person. I'm just human. Maybe not such a big humanitarian as Putin, of course," Zelensky said. The line skewers U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a humanitarian" after Moscow freed an American prisoner on Oct. 21. Hours later, Russian ballistic missiles and cluster munitions hammered central Kyiv, killing two people and wounding dozens, children among them.

Zelensky kept his tone level and steered clear of personal swipes at Trump himself. Instead he drilled into what Ukrainian troops actually need: working Starlink and air defense missiles, fast. He said Starlink still isn't running at full speed on the battlefield, contradicting Trump's claim that the service is fine. Over the past 90 days, he added, Ukraine has received just 24 air defense missiles from its partners. "We are not crying and not screaming, but this is very important," he told ABC News. "I'm just trying to say that each missile is important."

Washington has denied responsibility for the Starlink slowdowns and Patriot delivery delays. Ukraine says it has gotten no explanation and no fix. The friction comes stacked on a run of Kremlin-friendly signals from the administration, according to the Kyiv Independent — a deal to buy Russian diesel, a fresh sanctions waiver, and pressure on Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries.

There is a diplomatic track, at least. Zelensky said Oct. 23 that trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. will restart in November, with technical teams from all three governments gathering in Abu Dhabi. He also repeated that Ukraine is willing to end the war by freezing the current front lines. "We are ready to stop this war as quick as possible," he said.

So the pitch from Kyiv is blunt: less praise for Moscow, more missiles for Ukraine — and a November meeting that will show whether any of it actually changes.