KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in remarks released Wednesday that after their meeting at the Vatican last month, President Donald Trump was ready to impose new sanctions on Russia if Moscow didn’t agree to a ceasefire.

Zelenskyy said that in that April meeting with Trump, he discussed sanctions with the U.S. president and left their meeting understanding that Washington was on board with that plan, he told to journalists on the eve of a trip to Germany. In Berlin on Wednesday, he discussed with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Europe’s own efforts to increase sanctions on Russia.

“President Trump supported that if Russia does not stop, there will be sanctions,” Zelenskyy told journalists in a briefing Tuesday.

“Our conversation was positive from the point of view that I perceive our conversation as a confirmation of the U.S. policy of imposing strong sanctions against Russia if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.”

Since that meeting, which occurred on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, Russia has not agreed to any halt in fighting, even as Ukraine insists it is ready for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire to begin anytime. The United States has also not imposed new sanctions against Moscow, despite recent threats from Trump and his comment Tuesday that Putin was “playing with fire” by continuing to attack Ukraine.

Top Putin aide Yuri Ushakov retorted in a TV interview Tuesday that “we have come to the conclusion that Trump is not sufficiently informed about what is really happening in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation,” insisting that the Russian strikes were only against military targets and infrastructure.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we are grateful for the mediation efforts of President Trump personally. At the same time, there are a great many nuances within the framework of what is to be discussed that cannot be sacrificed.”

In Berlin on Wednesday, Merz said European leaders were still in intense discussions with the U.S. over sanctions. Zelenskyy said that as long as Putin can place “his hopes in his offensives, attacks and assaults, he will avoid real diplomacy.”

Before his trip to Berlin, Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday that he does not know the current U.S. plan for sanctions but that the lack of them so far “was predictable because America was waiting for concessions” from Moscow.

“I think America had high hopes and I think that now this feeling has been reduced a little. The feeling that Putin really wants the war to end has been reduced,” he said.

Zelenskyy and Merz announced that Germany would invest in Ukrainian-made long-range weapons. Merz said the weapons may be produced in Ukraine or Germany. They discussed a package worth more than $5.5 billion, including investment in Ukrainian industry and cooperation between defense companies. Zelenskyy said the investment would include drones. He also said that they had also reached an agreement to supply Ukraine with more air defense missiles, without going into detail.

In his earlier briefing, Zelenskyy said he was seeking $30 billion in foreign investment to fully fund Ukraine’s domestic arms industry. The White House has been pushing for a fast end to the war, and Ukraine — which relies on Washington for military and intelligence aid — has taken steps to challenge Trump’s narrative that Kyiv is prolonging the war.

Ukrainian officials agreed to a minerals deal that will allow the U.S. to profit from its natural resources, agreed to an unconditional ceasefire and agreed to in-person meetings with Russian officials. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is ready to meet Putin face-to-face — and he reaffirmed that Tuesday, insisting he would meet for a trilateral summit with the Russian leader and Trump.

There was some speculation after Trump pushed for a summit in Istanbul that Putin and Zelenskyy could even meet there this month. Instead, Russia sent a low-level delegation. Still, the meeting marked the first time that Russian and Ukrainian officials have met face-to-face since early 2022. The two sides got no closer to a ceasefire, but did agree to each exchange 1,000 prisoners. That swap occurred throughout this past weekend, even as Russia bombarded Ukraine with its largest combined drone and missile attacks of the war so far.

The two sides also agreed to outline a memorandum of their conditions for peace to be discussed at the next meeting, and nearly two weeks later, Russia has said that it is almost ready and the meeting could take place in Istanbul. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the date of the next round of talks would be announced shortly.

In the meantime, Russia’s aggressive air campaign unfolded over the course of three nights, targeting most regions of the country and raising Trump’s ire that Putin did not seem to be interested in peace.

Ukraine has also attacked Russia with drones, shutting down airports throughout the country. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said 296 drones had been destroyed over Russia. At least 40 were shot down over the Moscow region. The ministry did not report any casualties from the attacks.

Ukraine has warned that Russia is planning a summer offensive to capture its eastern region of Donetsk while simultaneously pinning down Ukrainian forces with attacks in the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy, according to analysts and officials. Zelenskyy added that if Russia is not stopped, it will seek to keep going beyond the Donetsk region and take a much larger chunk of southeastern Ukraine. “They will do everything to cross the administrative border of the Dnipro region.” Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.

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• Russia seizes Ukrainian border villages as its bombing campaign slows

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