I think Yuri thought Victor was crying in relief.

Really. At first I was really taken aback at how cruel and cold Yuri was in this scene; not acting even a little bit flustered, worried or regretful that he made Victor cry, but instead moving his bangs out of the way to watch Victor cry in more detail.

And yet…Yuri isn’t cold, and he’s even had more exaggerated reactions to less: like in ep04, where he touches Victor’s hair and Victor pretends to feel depressed about it. Yuri even bows on the ice as an apology.

So here? I think it’s that Yuri is so so steeped in his issues he never considered Victor would take telling him to go back to skating as something negative, much less hurtful.

In fact, when Victor brushes his hand away and tells him he’s mad, that’s when Yuri finally reacts, getting emotional…but in a confused way. He really did think Victor never planned to stay with him forever. He really thinks Victor doesn’t want to be with him, so he isn’t able to comprehend this sadness.

So here, Yuri isn’t being cold to Victor’s suffering…he likely didn’t realize the tears were of pain. He probably thought Victor was crying because he was relieved and touched about the news.