Zelenskyy Warns Against U.S. Alignment With Russia as Trump Defends Sanctions Waiver

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that a U.S. decision to formally side with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a “historic mistake.” He made the remark on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” days after President Donald Trump waived a sweeping set of sanctions on Russia that Congress had passed.

Zelenskyy said he still views Trump as an ally and hopes the president will reverse course. Trump and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., defended the waiver, saying it protects Americans from high fuel costs while keeping Russia at the bargaining table, NBC News reported.

What Zelenskyy says

Zelenskyy told moderator Kristen Welker that Kyiv wants to rely on Trump. “We want to trust him,” he said. He added that he believes the recent decisions are mistakes that will not help Ukraine or the United States.

He said the Trump administration’s diesel deal with Putin would strengthen the Russian leader’s determination to occupy Ukraine. According to NBC News, the deal was announced days before the waiver and would release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel onto the global market. Zelenskyy also argued the deal would not have a real effect on U.S. oil prices, because he said rising prices stem from the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz rather than from Ukraine.

He said U.S. intelligence sharing on incoming ballistic missiles was blocked for several days but has since been restored, and he thanked Washington for that. He said a speed restriction on Starshield, the military version of Starlink, remains. Ukrainian officials believe the limit, imposed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, reflected a message from the U.S. government, Zelenskyy said. He said he did not know whether Trump or Musk made the decision, but thought both were involved.

Zelenskyy also said it was a pity that Trump waived sanctions in a bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whom he described as a great supporter of peace and of Ukraine.

What Trump and Lankford say

Trump signed the sanctions legislation last month after it passed with bipartisan support. It was meant to hit Russia’s revenue by penalizing global buyers of its oil and gas. In an executive order Friday, Trump said waiving the measures was in the national interests of the United States.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he did not want to drive Russia away from the bargaining table. He also claimed Ukrainian strikes on Russian diesel refineries were seriously hurting world diesel markets, including in the United States. In addition, he said Russia was doing little to help Iran compared with what it could do, and that he wanted to keep it that way. NBC News noted that Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced the same day that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would travel to Tehran this week.

Lankford, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Trump was balancing pressure on Russia against help for Americans, pointing to high gas prices. Asked whether Trump was siding with Putin, Lankford said the president was siding with the free people of Ukraine and working to bring both countries to the negotiating table.

What's at stake for the war and for U.S. consumers

The dispute touches both fuel prices at home and the course of a war now in its 4½th year. Trump has defended the diesel arrangement as a way to ease soaring fuel costs, while Zelenskyy disputes that it would lower U.S. prices. Reports differ on the reasons behind the price increases and on how much the waiver will matter for them.

On the battlefield, NBC News reported little recent movement on the front line, with Russia occupying around a fifth of Ukraine. Peace talks have effectively stalled. Ukraine says Russia rejected a short-term ceasefire and that Putin’s terms amount to full surrender. Zelenskyy said that if the United States and Russia stood together, Ukraine would not prevail. Another hard winter looms for civilians, with a critical munitions shortage limiting Ukraine’s ability to defend infrastructure from Russian strikes.

Relations between the two leaders have been strained in recent weeks. Zelenskyy said he accused the U.S. of betraying Kyiv last week and that his feelings have not changed. Asked about Trump’s remark that he was harder to deal with than Putin, Zelenskyy said he is very honest with Trump and that open partners are better than killers with a smile. European and Ukrainian officials previously told NBC News they believed the intelligence limits were aimed at pressuring Kyiv to make concessions.

What happens next

Zelenskyy said he was due to speak by phone with U.S. negotiators later Sunday and remained hopeful of a meeting in the coming days. He said he was open to it despite the difficult circumstances.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by NBC News