President Donald Trump says negotiations aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine are advancing, while sharply criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over attacks on Russian oil facilities that he says are disrupting diesel markets worldwide.
In an extended Truth Social post on Sunday afternoon, Trump claimed he was making meaningful progress toward ending the four-and-a-half-year conflict. He warned that imposing new sanctions on Moscow could undermine those efforts.
His most pointed remarks, however, were directed at Zelenskyy. Trump accused the Ukrainian president of fueling the conflict while contributing to higher energy costs and placing additional pressure on American farmers, ranchers and businesses.
“I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump wrote.
“Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!”
Trump’s remarks came after Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the war, sending more than 1,000 drones toward targets inside Russia and setting oil infrastructure in St. Petersburg on fire.
The statement also represented Trump’s strongest defense so far of his decision Friday to delay the immediate rollout of additional sanctions against Russia, a move that has drawn criticism from members of both parties.
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one,” Trump wrote, arguing that increased economic pressure could push Russian President Vladimir Putin away from negotiations.
“Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”
In an extraordinary Truth Social post Sunday, Trump said negotiations to end the four-and-a-half-year war were moving forward
Trump says peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are making significant progress and cautions that new sanctions could jeopardize efforts to end the Ukraine war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has drawn Trump’s criticism over strikes on Russian oil refineries, which the US president says are harming global diesel markets
Trump also connected his Russia policy to the intensifying standoff with Iran. He argued that Moscow was providing Tehran with considerably less support than it could offer.
“Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way,” he wrote.
Zelenskyy, though, became the central target of Trump’s anger.
The president said Ukraine was knowingly striking Russian diesel refineries despite the potential consequences for fuel supplies around the world.
“Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States,” Trump wrote.
“Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this.”
Trump added that Russia was still sending millions of barrels of diesel into international markets at reduced prices.
He did not provide evidence or specific figures to substantiate his claims about the effect of Ukraine’s strikes on the economy.
Smoke billows into the sky following Ukrainian drone strikes on an industrial zone in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday
Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Putin’s home city of St Petersburg, striking the port, power stations, hitting a bridge and forcing Pulkovo airport passengers into shelters
Part of Ukraine’s drone attack hit the Korabelny Fairway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Russia
The president painted a devastating picture of Ukraine’s position, describing its territory as shattered and its population decimated by years of fighting. Trump is pictured on Saturday
Trump then escalated his criticism into a deeply personal broadside against Zelensky, accusing him of having little interest in securing peace.
‘Zelensky doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,’ Trump declared.
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‘He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.’
The president painted a devastating picture of Ukraine’s position, describing its territory as shattered and its population decimated by years of fighting.
‘His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead,’ Trump wrote.
He ended his post with an emphatic declaration: ‘I WANT THIS WAR END!’
The extraordinary attack came just hours after Zelensky appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, where he warned that Trump’s decision to waive sanctions could hand Putin a dangerous advantage.
The Ukrainian president argued that Washington siding with Moscow would amount to a ‘historic mistake.’
‘We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s (an) aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers,’ Zelensky said.
‘He’s a terrorist. And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.’
Local people at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine this weekend, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. At least five people, including a child, were hurt
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia
The massive strike by Russia in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine injured five people including a child
A man looks at a residential building damaged after a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Saturday
Zelensky also revealed that intelligence sharing between Washington and Kyiv had resumed following a temporary interruption.
The diplomatic confrontation unfolded against a backdrop of escalating violence.
Russian authorities said Ukraine launched 1,015 drones across 15 Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea on Sunday.
In St. Petersburg, strikes ignited fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi oil depot, killing one person and injuring five others, according to regional governor Alexander Beglov.
A logistics facility belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center operated by technology company VK were also targeted.
Meanwhile, Russian attacks on Ukraine continued, with a woman killed and a six-year-old girl among those injured in strikes on Zaporizhzhia.
The latest bloodshed has raised fresh questions about an ‘energy ceasefire’ Trump announced on October 11, claiming both countries had agreed to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
Kyiv initially said it was observing the arrangement, but subsequently reported continued Russian attacks and resumed its own strikes after a three-day pause.
People watch the burning oil terminal following an air attack in St. Petersburg on Sunday
Russia shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones near St Petersburg, authorities said on Sunday with an oil terminal hit and flights disrupted at one of the country’s busiest airports
On Sunday, Zelensky claimed that Russia had attacked Ukrainian energy, oil and gas facilities 76 times over the last week, leaving tens of thousands of families without electricity.
‘America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,’ he warned.
Despite the increasingly bitter public confrontation, diplomatic contacts continued with Zelensky revealing that he had spoken to Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about negotiations held in Miami on October 9 and the next steps toward peace.
The exchanges underscore the difficult balancing act facing Washington as Trump seeks a diplomatic breakthrough while the two warring nations continue pounding each other’s infrastructure.