President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants a change of leadership in Ukraine, and the apparent American tampering with the embattled nation’s defenses raises the question of how far he is willing to go to get it.
Ukrainians awoke on Wednesday to find that their military had been restricted in its use of Starshield, the American satellite service undergirding swaths of the nation’s defensive infrastructure and weaponry. The restrictions emerged just days after Trump admonished Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the press, calling on the leader to step down and hold wartime elections. The timing suggested that the United States was consciously undercutting an ostensible ally, pressuring Zelensky to step aside or risk catastrophic outcomes on the battlefield.
“We will not speculate,” a Ukrainian official told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday morning regarding the unknown motive for the Starshield restrictions. “We are awaiting answers, and we hope for a resolution.”
President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at the UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the U.N. General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, at the U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Zelensky himself said in an interview the same day that he hoped the downed systems are simply a “mistake” or a “huge technical problem.” But he admitted the fear that Ukraine may be “losing a strong partner.”
That fear was given further credence when former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reported Wednesday afternoon that his military’s connectivity was “being restored” and thanked CEO Elon Musk. Musk responded that he had nothing to do with the situation because “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government.”
“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk responded.
The Starshield restriction issue comes on the heels of reports the U.S. allegedly threatened to stop sharing intelligence if Ukraine kept attacking Russian energy infrastructure. Zelensky said earlier this week Ukraine “received no early warning from our partners” on one of the latest Russian strikes against Kyiv, although he stopped short of naming specific countries. Trump has dismissed the idea that the U.S. has stopped sharing intelligence.
The latest friction and finger-pointing between the two leaders is yet another data point in what has been at times a combustible relationship. Most famously, just a month after Trump’s second inauguration, Zelensky’s visit to the White House became an unforgettable disaster of foreign relations after Vice President JD Vance took a jab at the Ukrainian leader for not being sufficiently grateful for U.S. support. When the Ukrainian president tried to argue that he has expressed thanks, Trump ultimately shut down the conversation and subsequently booted the Ukrainian envoy from the White House.
Following that encounter, Zelensky adopted a new strategy of appeasement and effusive praise with the Trump administration. When the White House suggested a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky was on board. When Trump declared a ceasefire, Zelensky signed on immediately. But when these plans continuously fell apart due to hesitance from the Russian side, it usually ended up being Zelensky who gets a rhetorical kicking over it.
When Trump — seemingly unilaterally — declared an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia, Zelensky signed on without hesitation. Russia responded by almost immediately striking Ukrainian energy facilities and power plants, prompting Ukraine to abandon the plan.
Trump had little to say about Putin’s behavior. But Ukraine’s strikes — and their perceived threat to global energy markets that rely on Russian exports — were almost unforgivable.
“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,” Trump said of Zelensky. He continued, saying Zelensky “lost 30% of your country and you’ve had over a million people go between the two of them, over 2 million people killed. That’s a war that should have never started. And I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
Under the Ukrainian Constitution, Zelensky does not need to hold elections due to wartime exemptions and the implementation of martial law. Additionally, the prospect of an election is treacherous. Not only will the risk of Russian interference be at an all-time high, but a nationwide vote will create high concentrations of civilians ripe for strikes.
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
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Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Asked if the White House has responded to these expressed security concerns regarding a potential election, the Ukrainian official told the Washington Examiner that “nothing has been communicated from the U.S. government to the embassy for quite some time.”
Mykola Murskyj, senior adviser on policy and strategy at the nonprofit organization Razom for Ukraine, told the Washington Examiner that Zelensky isn’t just arbitrarily clinging to power — the entire country is wary of voting during wartime.
“Even the people who want Zelensky out of office desperately — they don’t want the election to happen while the war is still going on,” Murskyj told the Washington Examiner. “It’s the fact that you can’t hold a free and fair election during the war.”
“When you have millions of people that are displaced and living abroad and millions of people that are displaced within Ukraine, you have to dedicate significant resources to reregistering all these people to where they are currently at,” he explained. ”That’s a huge amount of money and time that Ukraine should be spending on making sure that Putin doesn’t bomb children’s hospitals.”
Perhaps the only prominent Ukrainian who has demanded a wartime election is Fedorov, the former defense minister who elicited the comment about Starshield from Musk.
Fedorov intends to run against Zelensky for the top office in the next election, having experienced a spike in approval ratings over the summer — but that surge rolled back following his demand for the president to hold elections while Zelensky’s held steady around 60%.
Still, Zelensky has floated the idea that such an election could take place only if Ukraine could be given a breather to safely send voters to the ballot box.
“Please tell Putin — give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire. Sixty days and we will organize elections,” Zelensky pleaded in a Sunday interview.
Once again, it was Russia that denied that possibility. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and his government were uninterested in such short-term solutions.
“In the Kremlin, both President Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire,” said Peskov. “We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.”
Denys Sienik, Ukraine’s charge d’affaires to the U.S., has decried these continued attempts to negotiate peace with the Kremlin.
“The Kremlin’s own words expose its refusal to agree to an immediate ceasefire,” Sienik said. “Ukraine wants peace; Russia continues its war of destruction. Words about peace mean little without the willingness to stop killing Ukrainians.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov leave an annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov leave an annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
If Zelensky ultimately resigns or opens up a wartime election, there are several candidates that appear to be poised to seize the opportunity. Beyond Fedorov, there is a lineup of active and former military officers who are seen as primed for leadership.
Perhaps the most discussed candidate is Valerii Zaluzhnyi — the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom who previously served as his nation’s top general. He polls highly with the Ukrainian public and boasts an imposing image that might resonate with Trump’s documented appreciation for political strongmen.
Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion who now serves as mayor of Kyiv, is also seen as a prime contender. His leadership throughout the invasion — and willingness to walk the front lines in active participation of military defense strategy — has been lauded.
Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, a longtime military leader who now serves as the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has also been floated.
Zelensky does not appear to be in a rush to hold elections and the public has shown little enthusiasm for heading to the polls as bombs fly overhead.
ZELENSKY LAMENTS LACK OF ‘EARLY WARNING FROM OUR PARTNERS’ ON RUSSIAN STRIKES AGAINST UKRAINE
But as the U.S. midterm elections approach and Russia refuses any potential ceasefire, the Ukrainian attacks on oil and energy facilities will only further outrage his critic in the White House.
With Kyiv’s entire defensive strategy hinging on American support, Trump ultimately holds the power to force Zelensky out of office — or else risk turning his country into a sitting duck.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
