Trump slams Zelensky, accuses him of prolonging Russia’s war after Kiev launches one of its biggest drone strikes in Moscow | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday (local time), accusing him of not wanting to end the ongoing war with Russia.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Zelenskyy doesn’t care and frankly, with all the money Europe famously gives him and Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war and probably never will. He could have made a better deal two years ago than now. His country is in ruins and much of it is lost, its male population is lost. low, wounded and/or dead I WANT THE WAR ENDED!”
Zelenskyi also hit out after Kiev launched one of its biggest drone strikes on Russia this year on Saturday night, hitting a key oil terminal despite Trump’s demand that it stop attacking Moscow’s energy infrastructure. The US president wrote: “Zelenskyy is using a diesel refinery in Russia as a target because he knows that these attacks are seriously damaging the world’s oil markets, including those in the United States. Farmers, ranchers and businesses of all kinds suffer greatly, but Russia still sends millions of barrels of cheap diesel to the world.”
Quick answers to key questions
•5 QUESTIONS
Trump claimed that Zelenskyy did not want to end the war and said that Ukraine could have made a better deal sooner. He also criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy facilities.
Trump said he was negotiating for peace and did not want sanctions to drive Russia away from the negotiating table. He also cited national interest as a reason for the exception.
Trump said the strikes are hurting oil markets and affecting America’s farmers, ranchers and businesses. He called on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy claimed that the diesel deal would send money to Russia and help fund its war. He also criticized the lifting of sanctions, saying it weakened pressure on Moscow.
Yes. Zelenskyy met with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Sunday in an attempt to ease tensions.
Read also | Russia-Ukraine war: Kiev faces harsh winter amid continued Starlink restrictions
Trump defends exemption from Russian sanctions
Trump’s remarks came two days after he waived some key Russia-related sanctions under the Lindsey O. Graham Russia-Iran Sanctions Act, citing the national interest as the reason for the exemption. Defending his decision to waive sanctions against Russia, Trump wrote in the post: “My decision on Russia is very simple. I am in the process of negotiating a peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine and I do not want to do anything that, stupidly, pushes Russia away from the negotiating table.”
He added: “A lot of progress is being made, and that includes the current hostage negotiations! Signing this document now will do it, and I can sign it later or whenever I want! Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way and I will, unless stupid people get in the way.”
The lifting of sanctions came a week after Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On October 9, Trump announced that Moscow would deliver 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and one million tons “immediately thereafter.”
Read also | Trump, Putin deal on diesel: What it means for the US and global markets
Zelenskyy met with US envoys amid strained relations with Trump
Amid renewed tensions with Trump, who has accused him of being the reason the war continues, Zelenskyy met with top US envoys including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Sunday (local time) in an attempt to ease tensions.
Announcing the meeting at X, Zelenskyy wrote: “I had a conversation with the representatives of the President of America Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Peace comes only through strength and cooperation built on trust. We are doing everything on our side to achieve this and ensure that America’s position is strong and will help establish the peace that everyone except Russia has been waiting for more than four and a half years.”
Trump-Zelenskyy dispute over the lifting of Russian sanctions and the agreement on the supply of diesel
The US president and his Ukrainian counterpart have once again fallen out over the former’s approach to Russian oil supplies and his decision to drop key sanctions against Moscow. From Trump’s accusations that Zelenskyy is the reason for the ongoing war to his calls for Ukrainians to replace their president, the feud between the two leaders is once again making headlines.
On Oct. 15, Trump said, “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” adding, “He wants to make trouble for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel, because Russia supplies a lot of diesel around the world.”
Zelenskyy has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s oil deal and sanctions relief, saying they benefit Moscow and undermine efforts to end the war. Last week, Ukraine’s president attacked the US president on the sidelines of a European Union summit, saying: “And now we can see money start flowing back to Russia through the oil deal,” adding: “This oil deal will never be enough to offset the impact of the Strait of Hormuz on global markets. But it will put more money directly into Putin’s pocket to finance this war.”
Read also | ‘It’s a deal for the rest of the world’: Trump defends Russian diesel supplies
On 17 October, he stepped up his criticism after the US announced it would drop sanctions. He said he expected the Trump administration to lift more sanctions against Moscow, adding that the “oil deal” was the first step.
However, it remains to be seen what course the relationship between Trump and Zelensky will take and whether this will affect Washington’s assistance to Kiev in the war.
