Zelensky hails ‘strong’ message’ of US sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, Oct 23, hailed the “strong and much-needed” message sent by US sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, after President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up pressure on Moscow in step with the EU.
“We waited for this. God bless it will work and this is very important,” Zelensky told journalists at an EU summit in Brussels, saying Washington had sent “a good signal to other countries in the world to join the sanctions.”
Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere.”
Posting on X as he arrived in Brussels, Zelensky thanked Trump for a “resolute and well-targeted decision.”
He said the US sanctions were a “clear signal that prolonging the war and spreading terror come at a cost.”
“It is a strong and much-needed message that aggression will not go unanswered,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia said that new US sanctions on its oil industry risked hurting diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war, and that it had developed a “strong immunity” to them.
“We view this step as being entirely counterproductive, including in terms of signalling the need to achieve meaningful negotiated solutions to the Ukrainian conflict,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing.
“Our country has developed a strong immunity to Western restrictions and will continue to confidently develop its economic potential, including its energy potential,” she added.