Shafaq News- Brussels

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European Union leaders on Friday to provide nearly $80 billion in additional funding for Ukraine next year, as he defended his country's interests amid a fresh dispute with US President Donald Trump.

“I defend the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people exclusively,” Zelenskyy told journalists after talks with EU leaders in Brussels.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was not seeking negotiations and did not want to end the war. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine could not accept a diesel deal between Washington and Moscow, warning that it could pave the way for an agreement on gas.

On Starlink, the satellite communications system, Zelenskyy noted that Kyiv had not decided to replace the service and denied that Ukraine used it to target Russian territory.

Meanwhile, a Russian presidential envoy revealed that Moscow and Washington had a package of projects planned for implementation, with the diesel deal forming part of that package.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said concessions to Putin, whom he described as an aggressor, would send the wrong signal and jeopardize Germany's security.

Wadephul also warned that Russia's escalation of the war in the Black Sea threatened global food supplies.