US President Donald Trump said his decision to suspend several Russian sanctions is meant to keep Moscow at the negotiating table. “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 does not want to “do anything that would recklessly drive Russia away from the negotiating table.”
On Friday evening, Trump suspended a series of sanctions against Russia two days before they were set to take effect—just ahead of an escalating dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News on Sunday that siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be an “historical mistake.” In contrast, Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev called Trump’s order an “important and truly historic moment.” He said the sanctions, passed by the US Congress and signed by the US President in September, would have caused “serious damage” to the US market and the global economy.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the suspension of sanctions as a 60-day pause. During this period, their potential impact on the US and global economies will be analyzed.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump also claimed that Zelensky “does not want to end this war and probably never did,” adding that he “could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.” Meanwhile, Zelensky insists on an end to hostilities and has repeatedly said that Putin has not wanted peace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have soured after the US reached a controversial deal last week to import Russian diesel fuel. Despite international sanctions, Russia is still able to export oil, much of which goes to China and India, often at attractive discounts. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), China has taken about half of Russia’s crude oil exports, while India accounts for about 37%.
At a European Union summit, after Trump announced the diesel deal and said Zelensky was “harder to deal with” than Putin, the Ukrainian president said he was pleased to be among “real leaders.” Zelensky has repeatedly pushed for strict sanctions to limit the funding Russia can use for its war effort. However, following the latest US move, he said he believes the Trump administration will lift even more sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky said the deal was equivalent to the US investing in Russia’s war effort.
Fears that Trump is siding with Russia have intensified due to service disruptions for Starlink—the US-provided satellite system used by Ukraine. This has hindered the ability of Kyiv to defend itself against Russian attacks. Zelensky said US officials linked the speed restrictions to technical issues; however, he said Ukraine tested Starlink in EU territory and found the system operates at higher speeds there. Trump denied both the intentional slowing of the network and Zelensky’s accusations that the US had stopped sharing defense intelligence.
