Madar (International) - US President Donald Trump on Sunday, October 18, 2026, defended his decision to suspend several sanctions on Russia, saying he was "in the process of negotiating Peace" between Russia and Ukraine and did not want to "drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table," the BBC reported, citing a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump wrote that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did," adding that "he could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now." Zelensky told NBC News that siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a "historic mistake."
Trump blocked the sanctions, passed by Congress and signed into law in September, on Friday night, two days before they were due to take effect. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the move as a 60-day pause to analyse the impact of sanctions and tariffs on the US and global economies, while Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev hailed it as "an important and truly historic moment."
On the ground, St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday killed one person and injured five, setting fire to an oil terminal, a fuel depot and industrial warehouses and disrupting flights at the city's airport, Al Jazeera reported, citing AFP and Reuters. Russia's Defence Ministry said 1,015 Ukrainian drones were neutralised overnight.
Zelensky said Russia had attacked Ukraine's energy sector 76 times since Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" a week ago, adding that "America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements." Relations between Washington and Kyiv frayed after the US struck a deal to import Russian diesel last week.
