Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that the United States’ decision to ease sanctions on Russia could embolden Moscow to intensify its military offensive, accusing President Donald Trump of giving Russian leader Vladimir Putin economic relief while Ukraine continues to face deadly attacks.
Zelensky raised the concern on Saturday, expressing fears that Washington could further relax restrictions on Moscow despite continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving sweeping US sanctions targeting Russia’s energy revenues. The move came as the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, entered its fifth year.
The Ukrainian president warned that the decision could mark the beginning of further concessions to the Kremlin, particularly following Trump’s announcement of an arrangement involving Russian diesel exports and sanctions relief.
“Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue. I believe the ‘diesel deal’ is just the first step,” Zelensky told reporters.
He argued that easing economic pressure on Russia while restricting Ukraine’s ability to respond militarily would undermine efforts to end the conflict.
“You cannot achieve this by limiting Ukraine’s responses to Russia for killing our people. And certainly not by lifting sanctions,” he said.
Zelensky’s warning came amid reports of fresh Russian attacks that killed at least two people and injured dozens more in Ukraine on Saturday.
Ukrainian authorities reported that one person was killed in the southern city of Kherson, where 22 people, including two children, were wounded. Another person was killed in the northeastern city of Sumy.
The Ukrainian leader also said Russian forces had attacked 15 critical power-generation facilities on the same day Trump announced the sanctions relief, describing the assault as one of the largest strikes on the country’s energy grid.
He accused Moscow of deliberately targeting infrastructure essential to civilian life, warning that millions of Ukrainians could face electricity and heating shortages as winter approaches.
“Russia is trying to leave millions of our people without electricity and heating,” Zelensky said, urging Ukraine’s international partners to increase pressure on the Kremlin.
The president also called attention to proposed US sanctions measures associated with the late Senator Lindsey Graham, arguing that stronger economic restrictions could help force Russia to reconsider its invasion.
The proposed measures targeted Russia’s energy and defence sectors, Putin and the so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers allegedly used to circumvent Western restrictions.
Zelensky maintained that the measures could still play a significant role in ending the war, warning that weakening sanctions while Russian attacks continued would reward aggression rather than encourage peace.
“A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin — all of this only encourages him to keep attacking,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russian officials welcomed the Trump administration’s decision, portraying the suspension of the sanctions measures as a diplomatic and economic victory for Moscow.
Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy of Putin, described the development as “an important and truly historic moment,” arguing that the sanctions would have caused significant damage to the US economy and global markets.
Putin and the Kremlin had not publicly responded to Trump’s announcement at the time of the report.
The sanctions dispute has added another layer of tension to efforts by Washington and its international partners to negotiate an end to the war. Previous diplomatic initiatives have yet to produce a major breakthrough.
Zelensky, who recently travelled to Brussels for a European Union summit, has continued urging European leaders to finance Ukraine’s defence and maintain support for its resistance against Russian forces.
Ukraine is also seeking to strengthen its air defences as repeated Russian missile and drone attacks threaten electricity-generation facilities and other essential infrastructure.
On Friday, Putin appeared in military uniform and reiterated Moscow’s determination to capture the remaining territory it seeks in eastern Ukraine. Addressing Russian military leaders, he described battlefield developments as positive and identified the remaining parts of the Donetsk region as a principal military objective.
The latest developments underscore the widening disagreement between Kyiv and Washington over how economic pressure on Russia should be used to secure a settlement.
While Trump has pursued diplomatic and economic measures aimed at advancing negotiations, Zelensky insists that easing sanctions without a corresponding end to Russian attacks risks strengthening Moscow’s position and prolonging the conflict.
