WARSAW — Ukraine has more leverage than a year ago — and European leaders warn Donald Trump not to squander it by pressuring Kyiv to ease up on Russia. "In less than two years we went from the stage of no cards to the stage of don't play your cards," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told an audience at the Warsaw Security Conference. "That's a true achievement." Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ambushed in the Oval Office by Trump, who ridiculed him for having "no cards" to play against Russia.
Trump’s recent demand that Zelenskyy “better damn well stop” Ukraine’s refinery attacks, and his call for Ukraine to install a new leader, amount to a recognition that Kyiv does indeed have significant leverage in the fight. Kyiv’s refinery campaign is helping create a growing fuel shortage across Russia and is also harming the Kremlin's ability to finance the war. But European leaders fear that Trump's desperation to lower fuel prices ahead of next month's U.S. midterm elections by pressuring Kyiv to stop its attacks could weaken Ukraine’s hand without persuading Russia to end the war.
Sybiha’s comments drew loud applause at the Warsaw conference and underscored growing tensions among Kyiv, Washington and Ukraine's European allies after Trump said the U.S. had agreed with Vladimir Putin to buy Russian diesel. The dispute between Washington and Kyiv overshadowed a Warsaw event that is normally strongly pro-American, given Poland's status as a key U.S. ally. "Ministers and heads of state won’t say so outright what they think about the Americans, but they certainly think a lot of things — the negotiations with Putin are yet another stab in the back for the Ukrainians," said a French lawmaker, speaking on condition of being granted anonymity.
"You end the war by persuading the aggressor to limit his level of ambition, not by asking the victim to capitulate," said Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. His German counterpart Johann Wadephul underlined that Berlin is pushing the Trump administration to fully impose energy sanctions approved by the U.S. On Sep. 18, Trump signed the Lindsey O.
Graham Russia and Iran Sanctions Act of 2026, codifying existing US sanctions against Russia and expanding the scope for applying secondary sanctions, tariffs and restrictions, including against the energy sector. "This is not the time to lower the sanctions regime, but to strengthen it," Wadephul said. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband echoed that call, saying Trump should exert pressure on Russia to agree to an energy ceasefire under which both warring nations would stop hitting each other's oil, gas, electricity and other assets.
Russia has so far refused to take such a step. "Let us take seriously this issue of the energy ceasefire that President Trump has talked about, not simply a refinery ceasefire but a broad energy ceasefire, because in the last week alone we've seen 200 Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure," Miliband said. The U.S. president said on Monday that Putin is keener to end the fighting than Zelenskyy — despite the Kremlin not agreeing to any ceasefire.
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