Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Sunday that the United States formally siding with Russia and Vladimir Putin would be a “historic mistake.” His warning came just two days after President Donald Trump waived sweeping sanctions on Moscow that Congress had passed with bipartisan support.
“We want to trust him,” Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” referring to Trump. “I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think that it’s all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help United States.” If Washington officially took Russia’s side, he told Kristen Welker, “we will not prevail, and we will not be able to stand.” He called it a “tragedy.”
The Sanctions Reversal
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order waiving specific sanctions in the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, a legislative package intended to pressure Russia to end its yearslong war against Ukraine. Trump signed the law the previous month. His order says the waiver “is in the national interests of the United States.”
The sanctions aimed to choke Russian revenue by penalizing global buyers of Russian oil and gas. The waiver followed a deal with Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel onto the global market as fuel prices rose. The Hill reported that Trump announced earlier this month his intention to lift sanctions, allowing 300,000 tons of Russian oil to supply the U.S. and global economies.
Zelenskyy called the decision “gifts to Putin” and said it would strengthen Putin’s will to occupy Ukraine. He challenged the economic rationale, too, saying the diesel deal wouldn’t have “a real influence” on U.S. oil prices because rising prices stem from the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, not Ukraine. Russia, he said, would “‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the arrangement on ABC News’ “This Week.” “This is a carrot to try to end a war,” he said. “It’s not an economic lifeline for Russia.”
Kyiv offered evidence pointing the other way. Zelenskyy accused Moscow of breaking Trump’s “energy ceasefire” 76 times and said Russia planned to deprive Ukrainians of heat and electricity before winter. Overnight strikes hit energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions, leaving tens of thousands of families without power. “America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” he wrote. “On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting.”
Criticism Across the Aisle
The backlash hasn’t stayed within one party. Former Vice President Pence urged Trump to restore the sanctions and reverse the diesel agreement. Waiving them “dishonors the legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and is decidedly not in the national interests of the United States,” he wrote on X. “Putin is a war criminal and only understands strength.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it a “filthy deal” that would aid “the same Putin who is helping the Iranians to target and try to kill American troops in the Middle East and who illegally and viciously invaded our ally Ukraine.” On Thursday, five House GOP lawmakers joined Democratic colleagues in calling on Trump to cancel the deal.
Intelligence, Starshield and a Strained Partnership
Zelenskyy said the U.S. briefly “blocked” intelligence sharing with Ukraine, leaving the country without information about incoming ballistic missiles. Sharing has since resumed, and he said Ukraine is thankful. But the restriction on Ukraine’s use of Starshield, the military version of Starlink, remains. Ukrainian officials believe Elon Musk’s SpaceX imposed the limit following a “message from American government.” European and Ukrainian officials previously told NBC they believed the intelligence interruption, which came days after Trump eased sanctions, was likely meant to pressure Kyiv into concessions amid stalled peace talks.
Public friction between the two leaders is sharp. Trump told Newsmax that Zelenskyy was “not a good guy for us to deal with” and that he was “not a big fan of Zelensky.” He said Zelenskyy was “more difficult to deal with than Putin” and that the war would “end soon.” Zelenskyy replied that he’s “very honest” with Trump. “Maybe it’s not very polite,” he said, but “better to have partners who are very open and clear than to have those who are killers, even with a smile on their face.”
Zelenskyy said he later spoke with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about an Oct. 9 meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami and about “next steps in diplomacy.”
War Continues on Both Sides
Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of the war’s largest aerial attacks. Fires broke out at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot in St. Petersburg. Governor Alexander Beglov said at least one person was killed and five wounded. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.
Inside Ukraine, Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and wounded at least two others, including a 6-year-old girl, local officials said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Kyiv was “resisting” but could not “change the current course of events.” Trump told reporters late Saturday that they did not know what his decision on further sanctions would be, even after he signed the waiver Friday night.
Why This Matters:
Congress passed these sanctions with bipartisan votes, and a president signed them into law. Weeks later, a waiver arrived without a clear reciprocal step from Moscow, raising hard questions about the weight legislative pressure carries against executive discretion. The human stakes are concrete: tens of thousands of Ukrainian families without power as winter nears, a 6-year-old girl wounded in Zaporizhzhia, and civilians killed on both sides. Critics from both parties argue that easing financial pressure on Russia removes leverage that might protect those civilians. Supporters call it a carrot to end the war. Zelenskyy’s account of 76 alleged ceasefire violations gives the public a measure against which to judge that claim. For allies watching, the episode also tests whether American commitments to partners under attack can survive a shift in the White House’s mood.
- volodymyr zelenskyy
- donald trump
- russia sanctions
- ukraine-russia war
- vladimir putin
- pete pence
- starlink
- russian oil