US President Donald Trump has defended his decision to suspend several sanctions against Russia, saying the move was intended to keep Moscow engaged in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that he did not want to do anything that would “foolishly” drive Russia away from the negotiating table.
Trump suspended numerous sanctions on Friday night, just two days before they were due to take effect, amid escalating tensions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky told NBC News on Sunday that siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a “historic mistake”.
US describes sanctions suspension as temporary pause
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev welcomed Trump’s decision, describing it as “an important and truly historic moment”.
Dmitriev said the sanctions, which were passed by the US Congress and signed into law by Trump in September, would have inflicted “serious damage” on the US and global markets.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the suspension as a 60-day pause to allow officials to assess the potential impact of the sanctions on the US and global economies.
Trump also criticised Zelensky in his Truth Social post, claiming the Ukrainian president “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did”.
“He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now,” Trump added.
Zelensky, however, has repeatedly called for an end to the fighting and maintained that Putin does not want peace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have deteriorated following a controversial US deal to import Russian diesel last week.
Russian oil exports and diesel deal fuel tensions
Despite international sanctions, Russia has continued exporting oil, much of it to China and India, often at discounted prices.
According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think tank, China accounts for about half of Russia’s crude oil exports, while India takes about 37%.
Speaking at a European Union summit, Zelensky said he was pleased to be among “real leaders” after Trump announced the diesel deal and described the Ukrainian president as “more difficult to deal with” than Putin.
Zelensky has repeatedly urged tougher sanctions to restrict the funding available to Russia for its war effort. Following Washington’s latest move, he said he believed the Trump administration would lift further sanctions against Moscow.
Ukraine and its European allies have criticised the plan to import Russian diesel, which Trump said would help reduce US energy prices that have surged during the war involving Iran.
Zelensky argued that the deal amounted to the US investing in Russia’s war effort.
Starlink disruption raises further concerns in Kyiv
Concerns over Washington’s stance towards Moscow have also grown following disruptions to Starlink, the US-provided satellite system used by Ukraine.
The disruption hampered Kyiv’s ability to defend itself against Russian attacks.
Zelensky said US officials had attributed speed restrictions to technical issues. However, he said Ukraine had tested Starlink in European Union territory and found that it was operating at higher speeds.
Trump has denied deliberately slowing down the network. He has also rejected Zelensky’s separate accusation that the US had stopped sharing defence intelligence with Ukraine.
