Zelenskyy says US 30-day waiver on Russian oil sanctions is ‘not the right decision’

PARIS (AP) 鈥� Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that the U.S. 30-day waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the is 鈥渘ot the right decision鈥� and won鈥檛 help bring a stop to Russia鈥檚 more than .

鈥淭his easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,鈥� Zelenskyy said. 鈥淭his certainly does not help peace.鈥�

鈥淚 believe that lifting sanctions will, in any case, lead to a strengthening of Russia鈥檚 position. It spends the money from energy sales on weapons, and all of this is then used against us,鈥� Zelenskyy said at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris.

鈥淭herefore, ultimately lifting sanctions only so that more drones will later be flying at you is, in my opinion, not the right decision,鈥� he said.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday a 30-day waiver on Russian oil sanctions. The step aims to free up Russian cargoes stranded at sea and ease caused by the Iran war.

Analysts say that spiraling oil prices due to Persian Gulf production blockages are . Moscow relies heavily on oil revenue to finance its invasion, and sanctions were .

between Moscow and Kyiv that seek to stop Europe鈥檚 biggest conflict since World War II are on hold due to the Iran war, though they could resume next week, according to Zelenskyy.

Macron noted that broad sanctions on Russia still stand despite the temporary U.S. waiver.

U.S. waivers announced in recent days are 鈥渓imited鈥� and 鈥渢aken on an exceptional basis,鈥� Macron said. 鈥淚t does not broadly or permanently roll back the sanctions that they themselves decided to apply,鈥� he added.

German leader says US sanctions waiver for Russian oil is 鈥榳rong鈥�

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz adopted a more critical stance. He said Friday that a meeting earlier this week of heads of state and government from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump the issue of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

鈥淪ix members of the G7 expressed a very clear view that this (waiving of Russia sanctions) is not the right signal to send,鈥� Merz said during a visit to Norway. 鈥淲e learned this morning that the U.S. government has apparently decided otherwise. Once again, we believe this is the wrong decision.鈥�

Merz added: 鈥淭here is currently a price problem, but not a supply problem. And in that regard, I would like to know what additional motives led the U.S. government to make this decision.鈥�

Ukraine offers its drone expertise

Ukraine has become one of the world鈥檚 leading producers of drone interceptors, and Kyiv is to the United States and its Gulf partners for the war in the Middle East, hoping to receive in return the high-end weaponry it can鈥檛 manufacture at home.

But Trump spurned Ukraine鈥檚 offer of assistance to the U.S. in comments aired Friday. 鈥淣o, we don鈥檛 need their help on drone defense,鈥� Trump told the 鈥淏rian Kilmeade Show鈥� on Fox 海角社区app Radio.

Zelenskyy had said on Thursday that Ukraine is awaiting White House approval for an agreement on producing battle-tested drones.

In Paris, he said Kyiv had received a request for drone combat assistance from Washington. The cause of the discrepancy between the leaders’ comments was not immediately clear.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has received requests from six countries for help with drones. It has already sent expert teams to three countries, he said, without naming them.

Zelenskyy noted that providing interceptors was not enough to help fight drone attacks. The Ukrainian military has expertise in deploying the systems, he said.

鈥淭here must be proper, systematic work with radars and with the entire air defense system,鈥� Zelenskyy said. 鈥淯kraine is ready to share this experience for the sake of the security of those partners who are helping us.鈥�

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Novikov contributed from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.

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