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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Axios on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's new sanctions "will hurt the Russian war machine, but Ukraine still needs long-range missiles to force Vladimir Putin to make peace."
In a 35-minute phone interview, Zelenskyy said the sanctions "will make a difference," but suggested Putin won't budge unless Trump piles on more pressure.
"President Trump is concerned about escalation. But I think that if there are no negotiations, there will be an escalation anyway. I think that if Putin doesn't stop, we need something to stop him. Sanctions are one such weapon, but we also need long-range missiles," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy estimated that Trump's new sanctions against Russian oil companies could cut oil exports by 50%, amounting to up to $5 billion per month in lost revenue. He expressed hope that "new secondary sanctions" and "parallel steps from Congress" will follow.
Zelenskyy said he told Trump that "Ukraine wouldn't even need to use the missiles immediately. If Putin knows that not talking risks 'problems with Russia's energy facilities,' then he'll talk," Zelenskyy argued.
"We speak not only about Tomahawks. The U.S. has a lot of similar things that don't require much time for training. I think the way to work with Putin is only through pressure," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy described his White House meeting with Trump as "constructive" but admitted it wasn't easy, noting heated exchanges on potential outlines of a peace deal and Ukraine's desire for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
"My talks with President Trump were about pressure on Russia. I think he wanted to pressure them, but he didn't want to make an escalation or close the window for diplomacy," Zelenskyy said.
Trump's initial meeting with Zelenskyy followed a bombshell announcement that he'd soon be meeting with Putin in Budapest. The White House summit included discussions about freezing front lines as a basis for negotiations.
"I think that we understood each other. President Trump said we have to freeze the current situation and speak," Zelenskyy said.
After Putin stuck to his more maximalist position and after a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart failed to generate momentum, Trump pivoted sharply. The summit with Putin was canceled, and sanctions were imposed.
"As far as I know, the conversation between Rubio and Lavrov was not positive. They did the same after Alaska. This is the third or fourth time when Putin and his people reject what Trump says," Zelenskyy contended.
He noted that Trump "got a very bad reaction" in Russia over the sanctions, including belligerent comments from President Dmitry Medvedev and "anti-American and anti-Trump rhetoric" in Russian state media.
Zelenskyy pushed back on recent claims that Russia is making advances on the front lines. He said he'd made clear to Trump that such claims were false, and contended that U.S. intelligence also showed "nobody is winning now on the battlefield."
Zelenskyy claimed Ukrainian intelligence found Putin had privately boasted to allies that Russia would occupy the entire Donbas region by Oct. 15, a deadline that came and went.
"Russia can't do it. He doesn't have enough people. His strong battalions have been destroyed. Today on the battlefield, we stay mostly where we stood during the last 2-3 months," Zelenskyy continued.
Zelenskyy said his generals told him "Russia had lost 346,000 soldiers killed and wounded in 2025," adding, "That's almost identical to the number Russia mobilized during that time."
Zelenskyy offered a significant concession by accepting Trump's proposal of freezing the front lines as the basis for negotiations.
After the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested putting forward a peace proposal along the lines of Trump's Gaza plan. Zelenskyy discussed the issue with Starmer and other European leaders last week.
He told them the situations in Gaza and Ukraine are different, but he's willing to work on it. "The plan should be short, without too many details," Zelenskyy said.
"Some quick points. Like a plan for a ceasefire. We decided we will work on it in the next week or ten days," Zelenskyy added.
He stressed he's skeptical that Putin is ready to accept any peace plan.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that Slovakia will not take part in any EU initiative to finance military assistance to Ukraine, reaffirming his government's opposition to supporting Kyiv's defense efforts.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Fico said he "refuses to allow Slovakia to participate in any financial programs aimed at helping Ukraine manage the war and military spending," according to local media outlet Aktuality.
The prime minister argued that the EU's plan to allocate around €140 billion ($162 billion) to support Ukraine in the coming years represents "the EU's biggest mistake."
Fico also renewed his criticism of sanctions imposed on Russia, claiming they harm European economies more than Moscow.
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