Trump Defends Russia Sanctions Waiver, Attacks Zelenskyy

President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his decision to block a wave of sanctions on Russia days before they were due to take effect. He then turned his fire on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing the leader of a country under invasion of not wanting the war to end.

Trump posted his comments on Truth Social on Oct. 18, responding to criticism of the waivers. “My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” he wrote. The decision has triggered significant diplomatic fallout between Washington and Kyiv over the past week.

Kyiv Pushes Back

Zelenskyy didn't hold back. Waiving sanctions on Russia, he said, “will hurt Ukraine.” Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, he argued that the relief would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort.

“We can't compare me and Putin. He's [an] aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He's a terrorist, and that's why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump repeated his claim that Zelenskyy doesn't want the war to end. He said Kyiv was attacking diesel refineries in Russia despite knowing the attacks were “seriously hurting the world diesel markets.” He added: “Zelenskyy doesn't care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him... he doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did.”

The Diesel Deal and Its Critics

The sanctions waivers came after another move that stunned allies. On October 9, Trump announced plans for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to U.S. and global markets. The aim was to ease fuel prices, which have climbed since the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran in late February. That war led Tehran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, a passage that carried one-fifth of global energy exports before the fighting began.

Trump's embrace of Russian energy angered Kyiv, European partners and many U.S. officials. Their objection was clear: it rewarded Moscow as it continued a four-and-a-half-year war against Ukraine, following a full-scale invasion that began in 2022.

Diplomacy Under Fire

The two governments are still talking, despite the sharp words. Zelenskyy said on X on Sunday that he had spoken with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as part of “virtually non-stop communication” between the teams about the “next steps in diplomacy.”

“We are doing everything on our part to make this happen, and to ensure that America's position is strong and helps bring peace closer. Peace that everyone, except Russia, has been waiting for over the past four and a half years,” Zelenskyy wrote.

The talks unfolded as both sides continued hitting each other's energy infrastructure. Moscow's attacks left thousands without power. Kyiv, for its part, carried out its largest drone attack on Russia, in St Petersburg, since the war began.

The past year's optics are hard to miss. Trump and Zelenskyy greeted each other at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 28, 2025, less than a year ago. Now they're trading public accusations.

Why This Matters:

Sanctions are one of the few levers democratic governments have to raise the cost of aggression without sending troops. Lifting them days before they were due to bite, while Russian strikes leave Ukrainian civilians without power, puts the burden of a diplomatic gamble on the people being attacked. Ukraine's president says the relief will fund Putin's war effort; the U.S. president says it keeps Moscow at the table. Both can't be right, and Ukrainians bear the cost if they're wrong. The episode also strains coordination with European partners, which has underpinned Western support for Kyiv, and shows how a fuel-price squeeze tied to the Iran war is shaping decisions about a separate conflict. Whether energy relief for Russia buys peace or simply buys Moscow time is the question allies now have to weigh.