Ukraine-Russia war latest: Europe condemns Trump’s oil sanctions move as Zelensky bemoans Middle East conflict
European leaders have condemned Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily ease sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil.
Trump issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea in a bid to stabilise global energy markets.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the move could net Moscow as much as $10bn to support Vladimir Putin’s war on his country. European Council president Antonio Costa said the move was “very concerning” and German chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised it as the “wrong” decision.
Zelensky expressed frustration over waning attention on the Ukraine war amid the crisis with Iran, saying it was “understandable that the attention of the world is moving to the Middle East” but that “it’s not good for us”.
Zelensky also blamed the Middle East conflict for slowing down peace talks to end the Ukraine war, saying that American negotiators had told Kyiv the “security situation barred them from leaving the US” for the next round of talks.
Russia has said it doesn’t want to take part in consecutive US-hosted meetings, effectively placing the process in limbo.
