Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned a US decision to extend the period during which Russia is allowed to sell oil despite western sanctions.
“Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war and is used for devastating strikes on Ukraine”, Zelensky said in a post on his social media account.
Zelensky did not mention the United States, but President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday issued a month-long sanctions waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products that are at sea. This action was intended to bring down soaring energy prices. But the US Treasury Department extension came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that Washington would not renew the waiver.
Zelensky stated, there were more than 110 tankers carrying Russian oil in breach of international sanctions currently at sea, carrying more than 12 million tonnes of crude which, due to the easing of sanctions, can once again be sold without consequences.
That is $10 billion, Zelensky added, a resource which is directly converted into new strikes against Ukraine.
The Ukraine leader mentioned furthermore that, in the past week, Russia had launched more than 2,360 attack drones, more than 1,320 guided aerial bombs and nearly 60 missiles of various types at our cities and communities.
A 16-year-old boy was killed and four people wounded in one overnight attack on the northern city of Chernihiv, the head of the local administration stated it on Sunday.
Zelensky emphasised strongly that, “It is important that Russian tankers are stopped, not allowed to deliver oil to ports. The aggressor’s oil exports must decrease, and Ukraine’s long-range sanctions continue to work toward that goal.”
