Zelenskyy says US taking Putin's side would be 'historic mistake' - as Russian oil sites attacked

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that the US formally siding with Russia would be a "historic mistake" - as Ukrainian drones attacked oil facilities in St Petersburg.

It comes after Donald Trump used an executive order to pause a new sanctions package against Russia that had been approved by Congress.

The American president said the move was in the "national interests of the United States".

And the waiver was announced days after Mr Trump's deal with Vladimir Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel fuel on to the global market as fuel prices soar.

But Mr Zelenskyy warned the diesel deal "will strengthen Putin in his will to occupy us" and it would not have "a real influence" on the oil price in the US because rising prices were due to Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, not the Ukraine war.

Ukraine war latest: How Kharkiv defies enemy

The Ukrainian president said he still sees Mr Trump as an ally despite saying that waiving the US sanctions "helps only the Russians".

"We want to trust him," Mr Zelenskyy told NBC News' Meet the Press on Sunday, referring to Mr 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," he said.

Mr Zelenskyy also said US intelligence sharing was briefly "blocked", blinding Ukraine to incoming Russian ballistic missiles, while limits have been put on Starlink technology which is critical to intercept jet-powered drones.

The Ukrainian president said his officials believe the decision to limit Starlink, imposed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, came in response to a "message from American government".

Mr Zelenskyy indicated the intelligence problem has been resolved, but added Ukraine was still facing an ongoing speed restriction on its use of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink service.

Asked if he thought Mr Trump or Mr Musk had directly made the decision to limit Starlink, Mr Zelenskyy said he thought "both" were involved. He said if the US president decided tomorrow to lift the restriction, "it will immediately work as it was before".

Meanwhile, local authorities said on Sunday that one person was killed and 15 injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on oil facilities, logistics and data centres in St Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

Fires broke out at ​the St Petersburg oil terminal, an oil depot and industrial warehouses, according to the city's governor Alexander Beglov.

Russian e-commerce company Ozon said ​its logistics hub in St Petersburg was on fire and ⁠internet company VK said its data centre in the Leningrad region ‌was attacked by drones, but services were still available.

Ukraine's military had struck a VK data centre near St Petersburg, Ukrainian drone producer ‌Fire Point said on Sunday.

More from Sky News:
Gun at scene after police officer shot in Nottingham
Two killed after woman drives truck through football pitch

Also, Russia's defence ministry said its air defence units brought down 1,015 Ukrainian drones ⁠over Russian regions overnight.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency Tass that Kyiv was "resisting" Moscow's invasion, but that Ukraine could not "change the current course of events".

A woman died and at least two other people were injured, including a six-year-old girl, after Russia launched two attacks on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, local officials said.

Two apartment buildings, 18 cars and an educational institution were damaged in the attack.

(c) Sky News 2026: Zelenskyy says US taking Putin's side would be 'historic mistake' - as Russian oil sites attacked