Zelensky Condemns Easing of Sanctions on Russian Oil

Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced the loosening of restrictions on Russian oil, warning that revenue from those sales feeds Moscow’s war machine just as Washington moves to ease pressure on energy markets rattled by the conflict in the Middle East.

“Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war” and is used for devastating strikes on Ukraine, Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.

Without naming the United States directly, the Ukrainian president’s remarks came after President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday approved a one-month sanctions waiver permitting the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products already at sea.

The measure was aimed at cooling sharply rising energy prices. But the Treasury Department’s decision to extend the waiver followed by only two days comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had said the US would not renew it.

“That is $10 billion – a resource that is directly converted into new strikes against Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky said.

He said Russia, over the past week alone, had launched more than 2,360 attack drones, more than 1,320 guided aerial bombs “and nearly 60 missiles of various types at our cities and communities”.

In one overnight strike on the northern city of Chernihiv, a 16-year-old boy was killed and four other people were wounded, according to the head of the local administration this morning.

Mr Zelensky said: “It is important that Russian tankers are stopped, not allowed to deliver oil to ports. The aggressor’s oil exports must decrease, and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continue to work toward that goal.”