Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the U.S.formally siding with Russia’s Vladimir Putin would be a “historic mistake,” but said he still sees President Donald Trump as an ally despite a series of moves that have unsettled his country and its friends on Capitol Hill.“We want to trust him,” Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, referring to Trump.
“I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think that it’s all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help United States.”Trump on Friday waived sweeping new sanctions against Russia passed by Congress, saying in an executive order that the move “is in the national interests of the United States.” Passed with bipartisan support and signed by Trump last month, the sanctions were intended to target Russia’s revenue streams by punishing global buyers of Russian oil and gas.The waiver came days after a deal with Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel fuel onto the global market as fuel prices soar.At the same time, Zelenskyy said, U.S.intelligence sharing was briefly “blocked,” blinding Ukraine to incoming ballistic missiles, while limits have been placed on Starlink technology critical to intercept jet-powered drones.Zelenskyy told moderator Kristen Welker that Ukrainian officials believe the decision to limit Starlink, imposed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, came in response to a “message from American government.”Personal relations between Trump and Zelenskyy have also appeared severely strained in recent weeks, with each offering public criticisms of the other.Asked about Trump’s remark this week that the Ukrainian leader was “more difficult to deal with than Putin,” Zelenskyy said he was “very honest” with Trump.“Maybe it’s not very polite,” he said, but it is “better to have partners who are very open and clear than to have those who are killers, even with a smile on their face.”Zelenskyy, ...