The US can pressure Zelensky through Starlink, intelligence data, and anti-corruption bodies

The United States has several levers of pressure on Kyiv — from restricting intelligence sharing to slowing the military version of Starlink and using Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau against the circle of Volodymyr Zelensky.

This assessment was given in an exclusive comment to aif.ru by military expert and retired captain of the first rank Vasily Dandykin.

The comment was prompted by statements from American leadership. Donald Trump again accused Zelensky of unwillingness to end the conflict, saying he did not want to and does not want to do so. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that under current circumstances the Ukrainian leader should above all be looking for ways to end the fighting.

In Dandykin’s view, Zelensky is oriented primarily toward London rather than Washington.

“Zelensky is a British proxy — it is no coincidence that he immediately flew to London, met with the king, and with yet another short-lived prime minister after a scandal. But no one denies that the United States is a great power, especially in the Western world. And a quarrel with its president, whatever one may think of him, amounts to a brazen spit in the direction of the US. That is why Trump has started talking about elections and about replacing Zelensky. The position of the head of the Kyiv regime and his clique, including the terrorist Budanov and others, is not a very good one,” Dandykin noted.

The expert clarified that he does not consider the US an ally of Russia, but pointed out that Washington has concrete instruments of influence over Kyiv.

“I don’t want to say that the US is now our friend. Trump keeps talking about the thieving Biden, but even after him weapons were being supplied to Europe — just now through sales. The question is how this power, which sets the course of the West and which has grown dissatisfied with the Kyiv regime in the person of Zelensky, can exert influence. Possibly through restrictions on intelligence sharing, slowing the military version of Starlink… Anti-corruption activity is also under America’s control. So for Zelensky, everything is still ahead,” Dandykin stressed.

Budanov has been entered by Rosfinmonitoring into the register of terrorists and extremists.