US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did," as he defended his decision to waive sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia — a public break with Kyiv that came a day after Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the war on Russian oil infrastructure, and as The Wall Street Journal reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed settling Ukraine's future at a three-way summit with Trump and China's Xi Jinping, without Ukraine at the table. Zelensky said on Sunday that he had spoken with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and that Kyiv was doing everything on its part to bring peace closer, CNN reported.
What did Trump say on Sunday?
That he is holding off on sanctions because he is negotiating, and that the obstacle, in his account, is Kyiv. In a Truth Social post, Trump said he did not want to do anything that would drive Russia away from the bargaining table, and that signing the sanctions document now would do that, though he could sign it later, the New York Post reported. He accused Zelensky of using Russian diesel refineries as a target in the knowledge that the attacks hurt world diesel markets, including in the United States, and said Zelensky did not care. "Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!" he added, without specifying what captives he was referring to, the Post reported. He closed the post with "I WANT THIS WAR END!" The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump invoked the waiver exempting Russia from the congressionally mandated penalties on Friday, a move that drew criticism even from Republicans, CNN reported; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the president would take up to 60 days to assess the move's economic impact.
What has Putin proposed?
A trilateral summit on Chinese soil next month. Putin floated the idea of a meeting with Trump and Xi in an October 9 phone call with Trump, a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told The Wall Street Journal — the same conversation that produced the deal for the US to buy Russian diesel fuel and facilitate its sale. The Kremlin has suggested holding the dialogue on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19, and the Chinese side has indicated it would not object if Trump is on board, people close to discussions between Moscow and Beijing said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions were taking place, while adding there was no clear understanding yet on the meeting or its agenda. A senior US official said Trump had not agreed to such a summit, though the official said the president could be receptive to the idea. Such a summit would exclude Zelensky and Europe; analysts cited by the Journal said the format would let Moscow present itself as a member of a club of great powers, and would signal in Taipei that Taiwan's future might one day be bargained over in a similar forum.
How has Zelensky responded?
Publicly, by restating Ukraine's case and keeping the envoy channel open. Zelensky told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the sanctions waiver was "more support for Russian aggression" and that US siding with Russia would be a "historic mistake," CNN reported. He said Ukraine's access to Starlink for guiding battlefield drones was still curtailed — a restriction the Trump administration has denied ordering — and that US intelligence sharing had been blocked for three days during ballistic missile attacks before being restored. Despite this, he said he spoke with Witkoff and Kushner on Sunday as part of what he called "nonstop communication," posting on X that Ukraine was doing everything on its part to ensure America's position helps bring peace closer. Asked whether Trump was an ally of Ukraine, he replied: "I hope so."
What is happening in the war itself?
The strikes that prompted Trump's post have not stopped, on either side. Ukraine's overnight attack into Sunday — in which Russia's defence ministry said 1,015 drones were downed — set fires at the St Petersburg oil terminal, an oil depot and industrial warehouses and killed one person, as reported earlier on Sunday. Overnight into Monday, a Russian air strike on Kyiv killed a woman, hit a subway station on the left bank of the capital and damaged a 25-storey residential building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, according to Reuters; non-residential buildings and a medical facility were also hit and three other people were injured, and a Reuters witness heard explosions in the city. A Ukrainian source told CNN there had been no early warning before a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on Sunday — the third time in a week, the source said, that no warning had come.
This article is drawn from reporting opened and read for this article: CNN's and the New York Post's October 18, 2026 reports of President Trump's Truth Social post, The Wall Street Journal's October 18, 2026 report of the proposed trilateral summit, and Reuters' October 18 oil report and October 19 Kyiv strike report. President Trump's and President Zelensky's statements are their own, as reported by those outlets; the proposed summit has not been agreed, as the Journal reported, and the Kyiv casualty figures are Mayor Klitschko's account, as reported by Reuters.
