Trump: “My decision on Russia is simple ... I don’t want Russia to leave the peace talks”

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on the 18th (local time) that his decision to pause sanctions on Russia and allow it to sell diesel was intended to keep Russia engaged in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social that day, “My decision on Russia is very simple,” adding, “I am currently conducting peace negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine war, and I don’t want to do anything foolish that would make Russia leave the negotiating table.”
He added, “Great progress has been made in the negotiations, which currently include hostage talks,” and, “If I sign that document now, I can do that, and I can sign it later or whenever I want.”
Trump did not, however, clearly explain what “that document” referred to.
Trump also said, “Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing almost nothing, if anything, compared with what it could do to help Iran,” adding, “I want to keep things this way, and I will, unless foolish people interfere.”
Trump’s post that day appears to be a response to mounting criticism in the United States over the decision to put on hold the implementation of the “Lindsey Graham bill,” which includes tough sanctions on Russia, such as imposing high tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy, and to agree to the so-called “diesel deal,” which allows Russia to sell diesel around the world.
Trump also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has publicly criticized him, of attacking Russian refineries that process diesel and dealing a serious blow to the global diesel market.
He said, “Zelensky doesn’t care at all about high oil prices, and, frankly, given all the money Europe gives him and what crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he [Zelensky] doesn’t want to end this war and perhaps never did.”
He also stressed that Ukraine’s war losses had been compounded because Zelensky had not chosen a better deal two years ago than the one available now, saying, “I want this war to end.”
Meanwhile, President Zelensky said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he had spoken that day with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Axios reported that it was “the first call between President Zelensky and a senior U.S. official since tensions between the two countries (the United States and Ukraine) escalated over President Trump’s diesel deal ten days ago,” and said they discussed the crisis between the two countries and U.S. efforts to resume peace talks with Russia.

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