Trump and Zelenskyy trade blows... Zelenskyy pushes back: “U.S. pressuring Ukraine to surrender to Russia”

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of having no intention of ending the war, saying he would hold off on additional sanctions to pursue peace talks with Russia. Zelenskyy pushed back, saying the U.S. was pressuring Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
On the 18th (local time), President Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, “As we negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine, I don’t want to foolishly drive Russia away from the negotiating table.”
He said, “Significant progress is being made now, including on hostage negotiations,” and claimed, “If we sign that document now, we could make Russia leave the negotiating table, but we can sign it at any time later.”
President Trump also stressed that Russia was holding back its support for Iran. He said, “Russia is doing almost nothing compared with what it could do to help Iran,” adding that he wanted the situation to continue.


Earlier, on the 16th, President Trump signed an executive order delaying the application of sanctions and tariffs related to Russian energy exports. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would take up to 60 days to review the impact on the U.S. and global economies.
President Trump also strongly criticized Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries.
He claimed, “Zelenskyy knows that by attacking Russia’s diesel refineries, he is causing serious harm to the global diesel market, including in the United States,” and added, “American farmers, ranchers and businesses are suffering greatly.”
He went on to criticize Zelenskyy, saying, “He doesn’t want to end the war and probably never intended to from the beginning,” and, “Two years ago, we could have reached a much better deal than we can now.”


By contrast, in an interview with Bloomberg, President Zelenskyy claimed that the Trump administration was effectively pressuring Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
He criticized the U.S. for easing sanctions on Russia while demanding that Ukraine stop attacking Russian refineries.
In particular, he voiced concern that the U.S. agreement to expand supplies of Russian diesel could help Russia wage war.
President Zelenskyy’s position is that Ukraine cannot unilaterally halt its attacks on Russian refineries while Russia continues to attack Ukraine’s energy facilities.
He also claimed that he had requested supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles needed for Ukraine’s air defenses in exchange for halting attacks on Russian refineries, but that U.S. approval was being delayed.
The possibility of reduced U.S. military aid is also fueling tensions between the two countries. President Zelenskyy pointed out that supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles had fallen sharply compared with the past.
Ukraine’s reliance on satellite communications and battlefield intelligence provided by the U.S. is also a source of uncertainty. Recent disruptions to the satellite internet service used by Ukrainian forces have heightened concerns about whether U.S. support will continue.
Tensions between the two leaders appear to be escalating further ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on the 3rd of next month. President Trump is seeking to expand supplies of Russian fuel to bring down high diesel prices, while President Zelenskyy argues that pressure on Russia must be maintained.
However, the Ukrainian government plans to keep negotiation channels open through Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and others.


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter