Volodymyr Zelenskyy will urge Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Russia when they meet next week at the United Nations in New York, and has called on Ukraine’s allies to “stop wasting time”.
Zelenskyy said he expected further sanctions to be imposed if Vladimir Putin refuses to meet him for face-to-face talks or to agree to a ceasefire. “If the war continues and there are no moves towards peace we expect sanctions,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to take action against Russia but has so far failed to follow through. Last week he said the US was ready to “do major sanctions” – but only after all Nato countries agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, and to put tariffs on China, another big importer.
Speaking to a group of journalists in Kyiv, including the Guardian, Zelenskyy expressed frustration at the pace of events. He said to “tie up” possible US sanctions with demands on European countries to move first was to “slow down the pressure on Putin”.
“President Trump expects strong action from Europe. I think we are wasting a lot of time if sanctions are not imposed or some steps are not taken, that we very much expect from him [Trump]”, Zelenskyy said, speaking in his presidential office.
Russia fired more than 600 drones and missiles at Ukraine on Saturday, Ukraine said. Photograph: UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images
Trump’s close allies Hungary and Slovakia have refused to cut energy ties with Moscow. They are the last two EU members still buying Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine bombed it last month, prompting an angry response from Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
Zelenskyy said he wanted the “whole of Europe” to impose sanctions. He said Trump could “push” European countries to do more and added that Slovakia’s pro-Russian government was likely to respond to American pressure. “Everyone is looking to the United States,” he said.
He reiterated his willingness to meet Putin in any format – either one to one, or “trilaterally”, with the US president in the room. The Kremlin says the “root causes” of the conflict have to be addressed before this can happen, referring to Ukraine’s capitulation.
During his New York trip Zelenskyy will also seek clarification on what security guarantees the US is willing to provide as part of a peace settlement. He said the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, raised this question with Trump during the president’s state visit to the UK and during their talks on Thursday in Chequers.
Zelenskyy said that his wife, Olena, will “most likely” meet Melania Trump in New York. They would discuss the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia. The US first lady is widely seen as being more sympathetic to Kyiv than the president, who berated Zelenskyy during their February meeting in the Oval Office.
Their last White House encounter in August was more successful, with several European leaders including Starmer joining Zelenskyy for talks. Next week’s bilateral meeting takes place against a backdrop of provocative Russian actions in Europe, in which three Russian fighters jets on Friday violated Estonian airspace.
Trump and Zelenskyy earlier this year Photograph: Joey Sussman/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was using an increasing number of long-range drones to target enemy energy facilities, used to supply Russia’s military machine. Early on Saturday drones hit the Saratov oil refinery for the second time in a week. Video showed explosions and flames. Another strike damaged a refinery in Samara oblast.
Ukraine’s president predicted that Russia’s fuel crisis, which has led to long queues for petrol in some areas of the country, would get worse. He said Kyiv was closing the gap with Moscow in terms of drone manufacture but needed more money to finance its homegrown production of weapons.
Overnight Russia carried out a large-scale drone and ballistic missile attack on Ukraine. At least three people were killed when a missile carrying cluster munitions struck an apartment building in the city of Dnipro. Other regions including Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia were targeted, officials said.
Writing on social media, Zelenskyy said the Kremlin was not bombing military sites but carrying out a “deliberate strategy” designed to terrorise civilians and damage infrastructure.
“A strong international response is needed,” he said, calling on Europe to boost Ukraine’s air defences and to increase weapons supplies.
