Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has challenged US President Donald Trump to adopt a tougher tone towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning Washington’s reluctance to impose stronger sanctions on Moscow.

According to The Independent, Zelensky made the remarks during an interview with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast, amid growing tensions over Trump’s criticism of Kyiv’s military actions against Russian oil refineries.

Trump had described Zelensky as more difficult to deal with than Putin, drawing criticism from Ukraine and its European allies. He also downplayed Russia’s military activities in Ukraine, despite the widespread civilian casualties and destruction caused by the war.

“The way Trump talks about me, he needs to adopt that kind of rhetoric about Putin,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader also questioned why Trump had not acted on sanctions against Russia, noting that the US Congress had voted in favour of tougher measures.

“Congress voted for strong sanctions. He can do it – I don’t know why he is not doing it,” Zelensky said.

He added that he could not determine whether Trump’s position was influenced by a special relationship with Putin or other considerations, saying he could only speculate about the US president’s motives.