Zelenskyy warns Trump's Russia deal will make Ukraine's war worse

Volodymyr Zelenskyy just called out Donald Trump for easing sanctions on Russia, saying it'll only embolden Putin to keep fighting harder in Ukraine. And he's probably right to be worried.

The timing's bleak. Right as Trump signals he's open to lifting restrictions, Moscow dropped one of its heaviest strikes yet on Ukrainian power plants. We're talking coordinated attacks meant to cripple the country's ability to heat and light cities before winter kicks in. It's a brutal strategy—make life so miserable civilians break, or at least pressure their government to surrender.

Zelenskyy didn't hold back. He called the sanctions rollback a straight-up "reward" for Putin, and he's not expecting it to stop there. The Ukrainian president thinks Trump will keep loosening the screws on Russia as the administration chases better relations and potential business deals with Moscow. That's the real fear: not just one policy shift, but a whole new direction.

Here's where it gets complicated for Ukraine. Zelenskyy's now pushing Europe to start its own talks with Russia instead of waiting for Washington to lead. It's a shift born from necessity—if the US is stepping back, Europe needs a Plan B. But negotiating from a weakened position, with your infrastructure getting flattened, isn't exactly ideal.

The power plant attacks aren't random either. Russia's following a clear playbook: disable Ukraine's energy grid, force blackouts, make winter unbearable. Civilians without heat, hospitals without power, cities in darkness. It's designed to break morale and force concessions without needing to win militarily.

What Zelenskyy's really signaling is desperation. He needs allies, but the biggest one's changing the rules. Trump wants deals with Moscow. Putin wants Ukraine weakened. And Zelenskyy's caught in the middle, watching his country get pummeled while Washington cozy up to the Kremlin.