Zelenskiy says Putin is afraid of US sanctions

Russia fears sanctions from the United States, which US President Donald Trump has promised to impose if Russia does not agree to peace with Ukraine by August 8. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Everyone knows for sure that key decisions in Russia are made by one person. And that this person is afraid of US sanctions," he said .

The President also emphasized that it is fair for Ukraine to be a participant in the negotiations.

"Russia's war against Ukraine, against our independence, as the embodiment of the independence of every European nation. Therefore, we discussed the format of the meetings of the leaders, in particular the trilateral format, in detail yesterday," Zelenskyy said .

He thanked Trump for his openness to finding solutions and expressed confidence that the war in Ukraine could be ended by a lasting peace. But all steps should be "very balanced.".

• on August 5, the FT reported that Trump is preparing to impose sanctions for the first time against Russia's "shadow fleet", if the Kremlin does not reach peace with Kyiv.
• On August 6, Putin met with Vitkoff in Moscow. Trump says that they "made great progress." After the meeting, Trump called Zelenskiy to discuss what was said in Moscow.
• Later, Trump said he sees "very good chances" of a trilateral meeting between him, Zelenskiy and Putin
• On August 7, ABC News reported that a Trump-Putin meeting and its location have not yet been agreed upon, despite Kremlin statements about possible talks in the UAE. And according to the NYP, Trump will agree to this meeting, if he holds talks with Zelensky.
• On the same day, Zelensky denied the US "proposals" to Russia, published by Onet.