Trump says suspension of Russia sanctions is to keep peace negotiations going
The US president blocked numerous sanctions on Russia two days before they were due to take effect.
Key points
- Trump blocked several Russia sanctions two days before they were due to take effect.
- Trump said he wants to keep Russia at the peace negotiating table.
- Zelensky said siding with Putin would be a historic mistake.
US President Donald Trump has suspended several sanctions on Russia, saying he is negotiating peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he did not want to "do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table".
The sanctions were blocked two days before they were due to take effect, as a dispute between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky deepened.
Reaction from Kyiv and Moscow
Zelensky told NBC News on Sunday that siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a "historic mistake". Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev called Trump's order "an important and truly historic moment" and said the sanctions would have caused serious damage to the US and global market.
Trump also wrote that Zelensky "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did", adding that Zelensky could have made a better deal two years ago. Zelensky has repeatedly said Putin does not want peace since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine
— Donald Trump
Tensions between Washington and Kyiv
Relations frayed after the US struck a deal to import Russian diesel last week, and Ukraine has accused the Trump administration of withdrawing key military support. Zelensky later told a European Union summit it was nice to be among "real leaders", after Trump said Zelensky was more difficult to deal with than Putin.
