EU’s Kallas says Europe will not ease pressure on Russia
Trump suggested that Ukraine change its leadership in response to Zelensky’s criticism of the sanctions suspension. “He could have made many deals and for some reason, he never does,” Trump said of Zelensky.
The US president tied his objection to Ukraine’s continuing strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. “We said, ‘you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries’, because that’s a world problem that’s caused,” Trump said.
Russia and Ukraine have recently intensified their strikes, targeting energy-generating and transport facilities, as well as major logistics hubs, according to BBC News.
Zelensky warned that the agreement to release millions of tonnes of Russian diesel into the US market would give Moscow money to continue its war. He said the relaxation of penalties would allow Russia to raise new funds to source new military equipment, and accused Moscow of taking the deal “to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they keep dropping bombs on cities.” The accusation followed deadly new strikes on Zaporizhzhia.
Trump confirmed the sanctions deal with Moscow on Friday, saying the suspension on Russian diesel exports would run until 7 April.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, echoed Zelensky’s criticism on Saturday, saying the suspension “provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war.” She added: “This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won’t.”
European foreign ministers intended to approve the biggest set of sanctions on Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion on Monday, Kallas said.
The deal with Russia is the latest effort by Trump to lower fuel prices in the US ahead of the midterm elections, after months spent grappling with the political consequences of the Iran war. That conflict, which began in February, has sent the cost of petrol and in particular diesel sharply higher, and, according to BBC News, has soured Trump’s standing with an American public stung by the higher pump prices and knock-on effects that led to across-the-board inflation.