Zelenskyy: Trump's Russia sanctions waiver wrong

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sharply reacted to US President Donald Trump for blocking most new sanctions against Russia from taking effect.

Zelenskyy issued audio messages to NHK and other media on Saturday describing the decision to waive the sanctions as wrong. He said the move only brings joy to Russians and serves their desire to keep killing people. He added that this certainly does not stop the conflict. Trump signed an executive order for the sanctions waiver on Friday. The blocked sanctions included the imposition of up to 100-percent tariffs on countries that import crude oil or natural gas from Russia. The levies were also due to affect countries that support Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet" of vessels used to circumvent existing embargoes on Russian crude.

Earlier this month, Trump announced that he reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel to the US and global markets.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy also disclosed that Ukraine and the US have been working to arrange a meeting.

He said Washington has proposed a trilateral summit among the leaders of the US, Ukraine and Russia.

Zelenskyy said the US has consistently mentioned the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as a venue for the meeting. He added that another possibility is for the meeting to be held in the US during the Group of 20 summit in December.

But Zelenskyy said neither Russia nor the US has given any confirmation about the meeting.