War in Ukraine: Donald Trump accuses Volodymyr Zelensky of “not wanting to end” the conflict with Russia

Donald Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday of “not wanting to end” the war with Russia, against a backdrop of recent renewed tensions between Washington and kyiv. “He does not want to end this war and probably never wanted to,” attacked the American president on his Truth Social platform. Conversely, “I WANT THIS WAR TO END,” he wrote, in a message justifying his recent decisions favorable to Moscow.

An executive order from Donald Trump exempted Russia from new U.S. sanctions on Friday and a deal between Washington and Moscow allowing the United States to import Russian diesel was announced days earlier. “I am negotiating peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine and I do not want to do anything that would stupidly remove Russia from the negotiating table,” Donald Trump still defends, affirming that “great progress is being made”.

Zelensky targets refineries in Russia

Donald Trump

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The Republican president also repeats the link he makes between the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the surge in diesel prices at the pump - one of the major issues of the imminent American mid-term legislative elections. “Zelensky targets refineries in Russia knowing that these attacks seriously impact global diesel markets, including in the United States. Farmers, breeders and businesses of all kinds are suffering enormously,” he says.

On the kyiv side, an attempt at appeasement

Prices of refined petroleum products, particularly diesel, have jumped since the first Israeli-American strikes in Iran at the end of February, particularly due to damage to the region's energy infrastructure and transit difficulties across the Strait of Hormuz. Ukrainian strikes on Russian infrastructure have also fueled the rise in prices by depriving the market of many barrels of diesel.

In an attempt at appeasement, Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in the day that he was “grateful” for Washington's resumption of intelligence sharing making it possible to alert kyiv of Russian ballistic attacks, after an interruption of “three days”. On Thursday, Donald Trump described kyiv's resumption of strikes on Russian refineries as a “shame”. “I think it is more difficult to work with Zelensky than with (Vladimir) Putin,” said the American president.