The Ukrainian leader said he was under the impression Trump would impose sanctions on Russia if no ceasefire deal was reached.
KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Wednesday in remarks released that after meeting at the Vatican last month with US President Donald Trump, he Trump, was ready to impose new sanctions on Russia if Moscow didn’t agree to a ceasefire.
Speaking to journalists on the eve of his trip to Germany, Zelensky said that during that April meeting with Trump, he discussed sanctions with the U.S. president and left their meeting understanding that Washington was on board with that plan.
“President Trump supported that if Russia does not stop, there will be sanctions,” Zelensky told journalists in a briefing Tuesday. “Our conversation was positive from the point of view that I perceive our conversation as a confirmation of the U.S. policy of imposing strong sanctions against Russia if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.”
Since that meeting, which occurred on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, Russia has not agreed to any halt in fighting, even as Ukraine insists it is ready for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire to begin anytime. The United States has also not imposed new sanctions against Moscow, despite recent threats from Trump and his comment Tuesday that Putin was “playing with fire” by continuing to attack Ukraine.
Top Putin aide, Yuri Ushakov retorted in a TV interview Tuesday that “we have come to the conclusion that Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation,” insisting that the Russian strikes were only against military targets and infrastructure.
Zelensky said he does not know the current U.S. plan for sanctions but that the lack of them so far “was predictable because America was waiting for concessions” from Moscow.
“I think America had high hopes and I think that now this feeling has been reduced a little. The feeling that Putin really wants the war to end has been reduced,” he said.
He added that not imposing sanctions on Russia would only embolden the Kremlin. It “will lead to a morale boost in the Kremlin. And this will definitely be reflected in one way or another on the battlefield.”
Zelensky’s remarks, made hours before he left for a summit in Berlin, were embargoed until Wednesday morning. The Ukrainian leader has ramped up his calls for new sanctions on Russia in recent weeks, insisting that Ukraine’s partners — including the United States — must understand that the only way to stop attacks on Ukraine is to economically suffocate Russia to slow its war machine and force ordinary Russians to feel the fallout from the war.
The White House has been pushing for a fast end to the war, and Ukraine — which relies on Washington for military and intelligence aid — has taken steps to challenge Trump’s narrative that Kyiv is prolonging the war.
Ukrainian officials agreed to a minerals deal that will allow the United States to profit from its natural resources, agreed to an unconditional ceasefire and agreed to in-person meetings with Russian officials. Zelensky has repeatedly said he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face — and he reaffirmed that Tuesday, insisting he would meet for a trilateral summit with the Russian leader and Trump.
There was some speculation after Trump pushed for a summit in Istanbul that Putin and Zelensky could even meet there this month. Instead, Russia sent a low-level delegation. Still, the meeting marked the first time that Russia and Ukrainian officials have met face-to-face since early 2022. The two sides got no closer to a ceasefire, but did agree to each exchange 1,000 prisoners. That swap occurred throughout last weekend, even as Russia bombarded Ukraine with its largest combined drone and missile attacks of the war so far.
The two sides also agreed to outline a memorandum of their conditions for peace to be discussed at the next meeting, and nearly two weeks later, Russia has said that it is almost ready and the meeting could take place in Istanbul. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the date of the next round of talks would be announced shortly.
In the meantime, Russia’s aggressive air campaign unfolded over the course of three nights, targeting most regions of the country and raising Trump’s ire that Putin did not seem to be interested in peace.
Ukraine has also attacked Russia with drones, shutting down airports throughout the country. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said 296 drones had been destroyed over Russia. At least 40 were shot down over the Moscow region. They did not report any casualties from the attacks.
Ukraine has warned that Russia is planning a summer offensive to capture its eastern region of Donetsk while simultaneously pinning down Ukrainian forces with attacks in the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, according to analysts and officials.
Zelensky added that if Russia was not stopped, it will seek to keep going beyond Donetsk region and take a much larger chunk of southeastern Ukraine. “They will do everything to cross the administrative border of the Dnipro region.”