Trump defends Russian sanctions relief, lashes out at Zelenskyy

US president accuses Ukrainian leader of not wanting to end the war, as Zelenskyy speaks with Washington envoys.

US President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 28, 2025 [Alex Brandon/AP]

United States President Donald Trump has defended sanction waivers for Russia, saying he wants to keep Moscow at the bargaining table and accusing his counterpart in Kyiv of not wanting to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump made the comments on Truth Social on Sunday in response to criticism of his decision to block numerous sanctions on Russia just days before they were due to take effect.

list 1 of 3 Trump faces bipartisan backlash over Russia sanctions waiver

list 2 of 3 Ukraine launches over 1,000 drones at Russia, setting oil facilities ablaze

list 3 of 3 Russia’s war on Ukraine ‘must be brought to an end’, Zelenskyy says

“My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” he said.

The move has triggered a significant diplomatic fallout between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the past week.

Zelenskyy said that waiving sanctions on Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in 2022, “will hurt Ukraine”, telling NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that it would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

“We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s [an] aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist, and that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”

Trump reiterated his claim that Zelenskyy does not want the war on his country to end, saying on Truth Social that Kyiv was launching attacks on diesel refineries in Russia despite knowing it was “seriously hurting the world diesel markets”.

“Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him… he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump wrote.

Trump announced plans on October 9 for Russia to supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to US and global markets to tackle fuel prices that have soared since the US and Israel launched war on Iran in late February. The move led Tehran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global energy exports transited before the war.

Trump’s embrace of Russian energy has angered not only Kyiv, but also European partners and many US officials, who say the move rewards Moscow while it continues its four-and-a-half-year war against Ukraine.

US-Ukraine talks continue

The Ukrainian president said on X on Sunday that he has spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as part of “virtually non-stop communication” between the two countries’ teams aimed at the “next steps in diplomacy”.

“We are doing everything on our part to make this happen, and to ensure that America’s position is strong and helps bring peace closer. Peace that everyone, except Russia, has been waiting for over the past four and a half years,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Zelenskyy spoke with Witkoff and Kushner as Russia and Ukraine continued to strike each other’s energy sites , with Moscow leaving thousands without power, and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on Russia, in St Petersburg, since the war began.

美国总统指责乌克兰领导人不想结束战争，与此同时，泽连斯基正在与华盛顿特使通话。

2025年12月28日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在佛罗里达州棕榈滩的海湖庄园会见了乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基。[Alex Brandon/AP]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普为豁免对俄罗斯的制裁辩护，称他希望让莫斯科留在谈判桌上，并指责基辅的俄罗斯总统不想结束乌克兰战争。

特朗普周日在 Truth Social 上发表了上述言论，以回应外界对他阻止对俄罗斯实施多项制裁的决定的批评，这些制裁原本将在几天后生效。

特朗普因豁免俄罗斯制裁而面临两党强烈反对（共3条，第1条）

列表 2/3：乌克兰向俄罗斯发射超过 1000 架无人机，引发石油设施火灾

泽连斯基表示，俄罗斯对乌克兰的战争“必须结束”（共3条，此为第3条）。

“我对俄罗斯的决定非常简单。我正在就俄乌战争进行和平谈判，不想做任何愚蠢的事情，把俄罗斯赶出谈判桌，”他说。

过去一周，这一举动引发了特朗普与乌克兰总统泽连斯基之间严重的政治争端。

泽连斯基表示，豁免对俄罗斯的制裁“将伤害乌克兰”，俄罗斯在2022年对其邻国发动了全面入侵。他周日在接受NBC《会见媒体》节目采访时表示，这将加强俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的战争努力。

“我们不能把我跟普京相提并论。他是侵略者。他占领了我们。他杀害了成年人、儿童和他的士兵。他是恐怖分子，所以我希望特朗普总统能明确表明他的立场。”

特朗普重申了他的说法，即泽连斯基不希望结束对俄罗斯的战争。他在 Truth Social 上表示，基辅明知袭击俄罗斯柴油炼油厂会“严重损害世界柴油市场”，却仍然发动袭击。

“泽连斯基根本不在乎，坦白说，欧洲给了他那么多钱……他根本不想结束这场战争，而且可能从来就没想过要结束这场战争，”特朗普写道。

10月9日，特朗普宣布计划让俄罗斯向美国和全球市场供应超过30万吨柴油，以应对自2月底美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争以来飙升的燃油价格。此举导致德黑兰实际上关闭了霍尔木兹海峡，战前全球五分之一的能源出口都要经过这里。

特朗普对俄罗斯能源的拥抱不仅激怒了基辅，也激怒了欧洲伙伴和许多美国官员，他们表示，此举是在奖励莫斯科，而莫斯科仍在继续对乌克兰发动长达四年半的战争。

美乌会谈继续进行

乌克兰总统周日在X电视台表示，他已与美国总统特使史蒂夫·威特科夫和贾里德·库什纳进行了通话，这是两国团队之间“几乎不间断的沟通”的一部分，旨在推进“外交的下一步”。

泽连斯基写道：“我们正在尽一切努力促成此事，确保美国的立场坚定，并有助于和平的到来。这是除俄罗斯以外，所有人在过去四年半里一直期盼的和平。”

在俄罗斯和乌克兰继续互相袭击对方能源设施之际，泽连斯基与维特科夫和库什纳进行了交谈。莫斯科方面导致数千人断电，而基辅方面则对俄罗斯圣彼得堡发动了自战争开始以来规模最大的无人机袭击。