Zelensky warns Trump’s Russia sanctions relief rewards Putin and risks further concessions

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US decision on Friday came the same day as Russia attacked 15 critical power generation facilities across Ukraine in “one of the largest” attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid. — AFP pic

First Published: Sunday, 18 Oct 2026 8:58 AM MYT

KYIV, Oct 18 — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that he feared the United States would lift more sanctions on Russia and that President Donald Trump’s action only “rewards” Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Trump heightened a battle with Zelensky on Friday when he signed an executive order that waived sweeping US sanctions targeting Russia’s energy revenues.

The decision came despite Russia increasing strikes on Ukraine in the fifth year of its war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

Trump had already announced that he has agreed a deal with Putin to allow exports of Russian diesel in exchange for the easing of sanctions, and Zelensky said he feared more concessions.

“Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue. I believe the ‘diesel deal’ is just the first step,” Zelensky told reporters.

He said he still “personally” hoped that Trump will do “everything in his power” to make Putin end the war but added: “You cannot achieve this by limiting Ukraine’s responses to Russia for killing our people. And certainly not by lifting sanctions.”

Ukraine said at least two people were killed in Russian air strikes on Saturday.

Pressure needed 

Zelensky said the US decision on Friday came the same day as Russia attacked 15 critical power generation facilities across Ukraine in “one of the largest” attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid.

Officials said one person was killed in the southern city of Kherson in an attack that also wounded 22 people, including two children, and that another was killed in the northeastern city of Sumy.

Zelensky said the US decision on Friday came the same day as Russia attacked 15 critical power generation facilities across Ukraine in “one of the largest” attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid.

The Lindsey Graham Act—named after the late US senator who sponsored the bill—targeted Russia’s energy and defence sectors, as well as Putin and the so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions.

“It is important that everyone in America also sees what is really happening,” Zelensky said on social media.

The Lindsey Graham Act, he said, was “supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end” adding that the act “could have helped enormously—and still can!”.

“A U.S. sanctions blackout, easing pressure on the aggressor, financial rewards for Putin—all of this only encourages him to keep attacking,” he warned.

The Ukrainian leader said Russia wanted to cause a “blackout” in Ukraine ahead of winter: “Russia is trying to leave millions of our people without electricity and heating.” He called on allies to pressure Moscow to “stop this.”

Last winter saw hundreds of thousands in Ukraine consistently without heat and electricity in freezing temperatures.

Russia hails Trump move as ‘historic’ 

The Kremlin and Putin have not yet reacted to Trump, but several Russian officials celebrated the move as a win.

“The Trump administration’s suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment,” Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin envoy, said on social media.

Dmitriev said the act would have caused “serious damage first and foremost to the US economy and global markets”.

Trump announced the sanctions waiver in an executive order Friday, shortly after Putin appeared in military uniform and said Moscow aims to capture the rest of east Ukraine.

US-led talks to end the war have failed to bring a breakthrough. Putin and Zelensky have frustrated Trump in the past.

Zelensky rallied his allies Friday on a visit to Brussels for a European Union summit, urging them to keep financing Ukraine’s fight and insisting he was standing up for his country amid the row with Trump.

Putin vows more 

Ukraine has been struggling to shoot down Russian missiles and has been left scrambling to boost defences ahead of winter.

Russia controls large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to seize the rest of east Ukraine by force.

“On the whole I see a positive trend in the operations of the troop groupings,” Putin told army leaders Friday, dressed in military attire.

“Undoubtedly, one of the main objectives remains the liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” he added, using the Kremlin’s name for the eastern Donetsk region. — AFP