US President Donald Trump’s decision to waive sanctions and tariffs on Russia days before they were to take effect will ‘unfortunately’ lead to additional relief for Russia and lead to further Russian aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted yesterday.
“The decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me,” Zelenskiy wrote on X. “It definitely helps only the Russians.”
An executive order issued by Trump on Friday night waived key Russia-related US sanctions and tariffs – including duties on the country’s goods and penalties for buying its oil and gas – that had been scheduled to start next week under the legislation known as the Graham Act that he signed into law last month.
Trump said the waiver was in the national interests of the US.
The law is meant to increase pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022. Trump, however, has been warming towards Moscow while publicly criticising Zelenskiy, including suggesting Kyiv needs a new leader.
Zelenskiy said Trump’s latest action emboldens Russian President Vladimir Putin and encourages more attacks by Russia.
“It only fuels their satisfaction and their desire to keep killing people,” wrote Zelenskiy, who said Russia on Friday struck more than 15 Ukrainian power generation and transmission sites. “This certainly does not stop the war.”
l Russia said yesterday it had carried out a large-scale overnight attack on Ukrainian and infrastructure targets including the country’s largest steelworks in the city of Kryvyi Rih, and vessels using the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
The plant is owned by steel giant ArcelorMittal, which suspended operations there in September after a series of Russian ballistic missile strikes. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Russia’s defence ministry said the plant supplied steel products to the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
It said Russian forces had also hit an electricity substation in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr and a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia. A cargo vessel in the Black Sea was also hit, the ministry said, alleging that it was delivering military cargo to Odesa.
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