U.S. President Donald Trump has defended his decision to hold back sanctions on Russia in order to preserve peace negotiations, while Moscow has expressed appreciation for Washington’s mediation efforts.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump stated that negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict are making “great progress,” and he emphasized that his priority is securing a settlement rather than taking steps that could undermine ongoing talks.
“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,” Trump wrote.
He added that “great progress” includes current hostage negotiations, though he did not specify which ones. His administration has previously facilitated the release of Americans jailed in Russia and mediated prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Kiev, including a May agreement for the return of 1,000 prisoners on each side.
Trump’s remarks followed his waiver of sweeping penalties pushed by late U.S. lawmaker Lindsey Graham, dubbed the “sanctions from hell,” which included tariffs targeting Russia and major purchasers of its energy. Washington also eased restrictions on Russian diesel exports this month to address rising global fuel prices.
Trump noted that he retains the option to implement sanctions later but argued that Russia is “doing very little, if anything” to help Iran compared to what it could do. He stated that he wants to keep that situation intact unless “stupid people get in the way.”
In a separate statement, Trump condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for resisting peace negotiations despite extensive Western financial support and criticized Kiev’s continued attacks on Russian refineries, which disrupt global diesel markets.
Moscow welcomed Washington’s diplomatic engagement Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised the American mediation efforts but noted that a final settlement is impossible without someone from Ukraine who takes responsibility.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy and participant in negotiations, also highlighted that Trump’s remarks exposed Zelensky’s “true hidden motivation,” asserting that the Ukrainian leader “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
Meanwhile, at Friday’s EU summit in Brussels, Zelensky sought an additional €70 billion ($78.5 billion) in foreign funding for next year, on top of the €90 billion already provided by the bloc to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis ruled out further financial commitments, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated that the European Commission would examine additional funding options.