Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that any formal US alignment with Vladimir Putin would be a “historic mistake,” even as he said he still wants to treat Donald Trump as an ally.
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday (18 October), Zelensky said he hopes Trump will reverse recent decisions he believes harm both Ukraine and the United States.
“We want to trust him. I hope he will change his decisions, because I think they are all wrong and they will not help us or the United States,” he said.
The remarks follow Trump’s Friday decision to suspend a broad package of new sanctions on Russia that Congress had approved with bipartisan support and that Trump himself had signed the previous month. The measures targeted buyers of Russian oil and gas to cut Moscow’s energy revenue. Trump justified the pause with an executive order citing US national interest.
The suspension came days after Trump and Putin agreed to allow hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel onto the international market amid rising fuel prices. Zelensky said the deal would strengthen Putin’s position and encourage continued fighting.
“It will strengthen Putin’s determination to conquer us,” he argued. He questioned the logic, saying higher US oil prices were driven mainly by the Strait of Hormuz blockade rather than the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky also raised concerns about recent US-linked restrictions affecting Ukraine’s capabilities, including a temporary halt in intelligence sharing that reduced warning of ballistic missile attacks and limits on Starlink use for countering jet-powered drones. He claimed Ukrainian officials believe SpaceX’s Starlink restrictions followed a “message from the US government.”
Relations between the two leaders have deteriorated in recent weeks. Asked about Trump’s comment that Zelensky is “more difficult to work with than Putin,” the Ukrainian president said he prefers to be direct.
“Maybe it’s not very polite,” he said, “but it’s better to have allies who are open and clear than people who are murderers, even if they smile.”
He reiterated his view that deeper US-Russia alignment would be decisive against Ukraine: “If these two countries come together, we will not be able to prevail and we will not be able to withstand.”
(18.10.2026)
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