Berlin, Oct 17 (EFE).- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fears that US President Donald Trump’s decision to waive new sanctions against Russia could be the first of further measures benefiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Unfortunately, the lifting of sanctions will continue. I think the agreement on diesel is the first step. It seems to me that Putin cannot be stopped in this way. On the contrary, he feels joy and satisfaction seeing that he has that support,” Zelenskyy told reporters after returning from Brussels, where he attended a European summit on Friday, according to the Ukrinform news agency.
Zelenskyy thanked the US Congress for passing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in September but said Trump’s decision to suspend the application of key provisions was a mistake.
“I am grateful to friends in Congress who supported this law. It was a great victory. There is really bipartisan support for this legislation. And now, the decision to overturn all of this, to block it, seems wrong to me. And, undoubtedly, it only helps the Russians. (…) It certainly does not stop the war,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he hoped Trump “would do everything possible to get Putin to stop killing, stop the attacks on our energy sector, and end this war.”
But he reiterated that this could not be achieved by restricting Ukraine’s ability to respond to Russian attacks, “let alone by lifting sanctions.”
Earlier, Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X that Trump had decided to “completely ignore the Lindsey Graham Act.”
The law, named after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, aims to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions targeting its economy and measures against countries that continue buying Russian oil and gas.
“This law could have been of great help, and it still can be! But it must be truly applied, and every voice raised in its support is important,” Zelenskyy said.
On Friday, US Representative Gregory W. Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to block the Trump administration’s Russian diesel deal.
The proposed Prohibit Corrupt Russia Oil Deals Act would restrict US government financing for Russian energy projects, revoke certain licences permitting Russian energy transactions and require the administration to impose sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, according to Meeks’s office.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving the application of several provisions of the Graham Act, including certain sanctions, restrictions and tariffs. The order cited US national interests and left existing sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders in place.
On Oct. 9, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Putin on supplying Russian diesel to international markets, saying the arrangement would help ease energy and fuel prices. EFE
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