President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did," as he defended his decision to hold off on new sanctions against Russia.
"My decision on Russia is a very simple one," Trump wrote on Truth Social at 4:36 p.m. ET. He said he doesn't want to "drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table." "Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!" he wrote, adding that he can sign "later, or any time that I want!"
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order waiving key sanctions and tariffs under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a law he signed on Sept. 18. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the president will take up to 60 days to weigh the impact.
Trump also wrote that Russia "is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran," and that he wants to keep it that way. He accused Zelenskyy of targeting Russian diesel refineries "knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States," and said farmers, ranchers and businesses "are suffering greatly." He added that Ukraine is "in shambles" and that Zelenskyy "could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now."
The post came hours after Zelenskyy told Bloomberg that Trump is pressuring Ukraine to capitulate to Russia. "I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate," he said. Zelenskyy offered to stop strikes on Russian diesel in exchange for more Patriot air-defense missiles.
Trump ended his post: "I WANT THIS WAR END!"
Photo: Official White House portrait of Donald Trump by Daniel Torok (public domain); official portrait of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Office of the President of Ukraine (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
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