First posted on Instagram · @profilopolitics
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States will continue lifting sanctions on Russia, and that the recent diesel deal is only the first step. He argues this does not pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war — instead, Putin feels joy and happiness at the support.
"Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue," Zelenskyy told reporters on Saturday, in remarks reported by AFP. "I believe the 'diesel deal' is just the first step." He called President Trump's broad waiver of the Graham sanctions law "wrong," and in a Telegram post branded it a "U.S. sanctions blackout": "A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to keep attacking."
"You cannot achieve this by limiting Ukraine's responses to Russia for killing our people. And certainly not by lifting sanctions."
Zelenskyy insists you cannot stop Putin by limiting Ukraine's ability to respond to Russian attacks that kill civilians, and that easing sanctions makes stopping the war even harder. The waived law would have allowed tariffs of up to 100% on the top five buyers of Russian oil and gas. Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, for his part, called the waiver "an important and truly historic moment."
The U.S. side of the diesel deal has been framed as a way to increase global fuel supply and bring down prices, while Zelenskyy sees it as economic relief that strengthens Russia's ability to continue the war. He also warned that "Russia is trying to leave millions of our people without electricity and heating," as Moscow opens a dedicated campaign of massive strikes against Ukraine's energy system ahead of winter.
At the same time, he says he still hopes President Trump will use U.S. power to halt the strikes on Ukraine's energy system and end the fighting — a hope he stated plainly even while calling the policy wrong: "We very much hope, and I personally hope, that the U.S. president will do everything possible to make Putin stop the killing, stop attacks on our energy infrastructure, and end this war."
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