PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a 30-day waiver of U.S. oil sanctions on Russian oil during the Iran war was “not the right decision” and would do nothing to stop Russia’s more than four years of incursions into Ukraine.
“This loose policy in the United States alone will provide Russia with approximately $10 billion in war funds,” Zelensky said. “This certainly does not contribute to peace.”
“I believe that, in any case, the lifting of sanctions will lead to the strengthening of Russia’s position. It spends money from energy sales on weapons, and then all of this is used against us,” Zelensky said at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris.
“So ultimately lifting sanctions just to have more drones flying at you is not, in my opinion, the right decision,” he said.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced a 30-day exemption from Russian oil sanctions on Thursday. The move is aimed at freeing Russian cargo stranded at sea and easing supply shortages caused by the war in Iran.
Analysts say the blockade of production in the Persian Gulf has led to a surge in oil prices, which is good for the Russian economy. Moscow relies heavily on oil revenue to fund its invasion, and sanctions are a growing obstacle.
Zelensky said U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kiev aimed at preventing Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II have been put on hold over the Iran war but could resume next week.
Macron noted that broad sanctions on Russia remain in effect despite temporary exemptions from the United States.
Macron said the exemptions announced by the United States in recent days were “limited” and “taken under exceptional circumstances.” “It will not broadly or permanently remove sanctions that they themselves decided to impose,” he added.
German leader says US sanctions exemption for Russian oil ‘wrong’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz took a more critical stance. He said on Friday that heads of state and government from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies discussed Russian oil and liquefied natural gas supplies with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week.
“Six members of the G7 made it clear that this (dropping sanctions on Russia) is not the right signal to send,” Mertz said during a visit to Norway. “We learned this morning that the U.S. government has clearly made the opposite decision. Once again we believe this is the wrong decision.”
Mertz added: “There is a price issue, but not a supply issue. In that regard, I wonder what other motivations there were that led the U.S. government to make this decision.”
Ukraine offers drone expertise
Ukraine has become one of the world’s leading producers of drone interceptors, and Kyiv is lending its expertise in Middle East wars to the United States and its Gulf partners in hopes of receiving high-end weapons in return that it cannot make at home.
But Trump rejected Ukraine’s offer of aid to the United States in comments on Friday. “No, we don’t need their help with drone defense,” Trump said on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine was waiting for White House approval of a deal to produce combat-tested drones.
He said in Paris that Kiev had received a request from Washington for assistance with drone operations. The reasons for the leaders’ inconsistent remarks were unclear.
Zelensky said Ukraine had received requests for help with drones from six countries. He said it had dispatched expert teams to three countries but did not disclose the names.
Zelensky noted that providing interceptors would not be enough to help combat drone attacks. He said the Ukrainian military has the expertise to deploy these systems.
“Proper and systematic work on the radar and the entire air defense system must be carried out,” Zelensky said. “To contribute to the security of our partners, Ukraine is ready to share this experience.”
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Novikov is from Kiev, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/Russia-ukraine
