Zelensky warns against lifting Russia sanctions before peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to journalists on Friday evening, Oct. 9, after Trump announced the diesel arrangement while Ukrainian negotiators were in Florida for talks on ending the war or securing a ceasefire, the Kyiv Post reported. Zelensky said the deal could be the first of more such steps and that sanctions on Moscow must not be lifted before the fighting stops.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia had agreed to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets. Another 500,000 tons would follow in November and 1 million tons after that, he said. A further 3 million tons would depend on the condition of Russian refineries. Trump framed the arrangement around lower fuel prices for US farmers, ranchers and truckers, calling that his 'Greatest Priority.' He said the deal, combined with what he called total control of the Strait of Hormuz, would quickly lower domestic fuel costs.

The US Treasury Department issued General License 135, authorizing transactions involving the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian diesel through April 7, 2027. The Kyiv Post reported that the authorization came three weeks after Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law on Sept. 18, legislation designed to choke off Russia's energy revenues.

Zelensky said the money would fuel the war. 'This is additional money for this war against us, without question,' he said, according to the Kyiv Post. The Mirror reported that he likened Washington's turn toward Moscow to the film Home Alone and said the diesel deal opened the door for Russia to take further similar steps. He warned Russia could offer America an 'economic marriage' given its resources and centralised control over them.

Sanctions before talks

In an interview with TSN.Tyzhden, Zelensky said he did not want the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia to meet with all sanctions against Moscow already lifted. 'Sanctions were imposed because of aggression, not for the sake of having a chat,' he said, according to Ukrinform. He said there is a specific procedure for lifting them and that lifting restrictions before the war has ended is very dangerous.

Zelensky said he had conveyed that position to the American delegation, the Kyiv Post reported. He warned that once sanctions were lifted, restoring them could prove difficult. More than 20 separate sanctions packages have been adopted against Russia, he said, and he questioned whether the same coalition could be assembled again if Moscow broke its word. He also said he did not want Ukraine to find itself without sanctions, funds or frozen assets when it sits down with Putin.

Three offers on refineries

In the same interview, with journalist Alla Mazur, Zelensky said Ukraine had offered Washington three ways to halt strikes on Russian refineries. None was taken, and the strikes continue, the Kyiv Post reported. The first was an energy truce: Russia stops hitting Ukrainian power infrastructure and Ukraine stops hitting diesel facilities and refineries. The second was Starlink coverage over Russia so Ukrainian drones could destroy ballistic missile launchers that Kyiv locates. The third was Patriot interceptors, which Zelensky described as the one item that depends on neither Musk nor Putin.

Zelensky played down the economic weight of the refinery targets. Russia accounts for only 2% of global diesel exports, he said, with the other 98% supplied by other exporters. He framed the campaign as a matter of justice rather than price. 'You might be hated, but you should at least be respected as an adversary,' he said.

What happens next

Zelensky said Ukraine, the US, the EU and NATO planned a broad meeting in Brussels this week on security guarantees and European integration. The Kyiv Post reported that the meeting was expected tentatively on Tuesday or Wednesday, with Ukraine, the US and the EU represented at presidential level and NATO by its secretary-general. Zelensky repeated that he was ready to join a trilateral meeting with Trump and Putin, Ukrinform reported.