Russia sanctions on hold: Zelenskyy sends message to Trump

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded after President Trump waived Russia’s key US-related sanctions days before new law taking effect.

On Friday, Trump signed an executive order aimed at exempting Russia from these sanctions and tariffs. But Trump formally certified that his move is in the “US national interests to withhold some of the sanctions.”

The waiver will remain active until Trump or top administration officials decide further action is appropriate. The US President signed the Russian sanctions bill in September and it was due to take effect on Sunday.

The White House’s latest move marks the worsening of ties between Ukraine and the US, leaving Kyiv further exposed to Moscow’s escalating attacks on the country as the winter is approaching.

In the latest remarks, Zelenskyy described Trump’s move to waive off the sanctions as unfortunate but he refrained from criticising Trump despite deepening of friction between two countries in the past few days.

“A decision was unfortunately made in America to completely disregard the Lindsey Graham Act, which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Expressing the hope that the new sanctions could be revived, he continued, “This Act could have helped enormously — and still can! But it needs to actually work, and every voice in support of it matters.”

Russia carried out a large-scale overnight attack targeting Ukraine's energy grid, striking over 15 sites across the country. Zelenskyy highlighted that the scale and relentless pace of these strikes are causing severe consequences for the energy sector.

Ukrainian officials warn that Russia is stockpiling ballistic missiles for further attacks in the coming months.