President Donald Trump was visibly angry answering questions about Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, blaming his Ukrainian counterpart for the lives lost in Russia’s invasion and signaling openness to attending a summit on the war that would exclude Ukraine.

“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” Trump told reporters outside the White House of the aggressor. “They haven’t been doing much.”

The president launched a wave of verbal attacks against Zelenskyy after reporters told him of the leader’s disapproval at his recent Russia-friendly actions, including waiving new sanctions on Russia, buying Russian diesel and reportedly interrupting critical U.S.-provided Starlink internet services in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said Trump is supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin by waiving the sanctions, to which the president said Monday he’s “supporting stopping the war.” When asked by a reporter how waiving sanctions helps stop the war, Trump said, “Because that’s what I do for a living.”

Days earlier, Zelenskyy said the president is on the wrong side of history. The Ukrainian leader also told a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday that Starlink access and intelligence sharing is still partially degraded.

“Unfortunately, we received no early warning from our partners about the first wave of the Russian ballistic missile attack last night. And we still face speed restrictions on Starlink and Starshield services in different parts of the front,” Zelenskyy posted on social media. “No explanation for either of these issues has been provided to Ukraine by the American side.”

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19, 2026.

Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The call with lawmakers, led by Sens. Thom Tillis (D-N.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), resulted in what the members of Congress said is unequivocal support for Ukraine in the war.

“Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Zelenskyy is a man that should’ve had this war settled a long time ago,” Trump said, adding he thinks Ukraine is “losing their male population” because Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to stop” the war.

“And to be honest, I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,” he continued. “If he would’ve listened to me ... he would’ve had this settled a long time ago. Maybe it’s time for Zelenskyy to get somebody else to negotiate.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday confirmed earlier reports that talks are underway about potentially holding a trilateral meeting with Putin and China’s Xi Jinping to discuss an end to the war on terms that would favor Russia. The meeting would alarmingly not include Ukraine, leading the country’s foreign minister to warn that such a summit could encourage Putin to prolong the war.

Asked if he would be open to a summit without Ukraine, Trump said: “Anything I could do to end the war, whether somebody’s there or not, whatever I can do to end the war.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who co-chairs the Senate Ukraine Caucus and was on Monday’s call with Zelenskyy, said that any negotiations “about the future of Ukraine after years defending against Russian assault must include Ukraine.”

“Ukraine has earned its freedom and right to determine its future – which are not for President Trump to sell out to Putin and Chinese President Xi because his halfhearted efforts to end the war have failed,” Durbin said in a statement.

Trump’s remarks on Monday echo past comments in which he has accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for U.S. support, particularly while pressuring Ukraine to accept an unfair deal with Russia.

“Don’t tell me about Ukraine,” the president said. “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given us nothing.”