Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned Donald Trump's deal to buy Russian diesel as a "weak decision" that amounts to an "investment in a war that must be ended" — setting up a direct clash between Kyiv and Washington over a sanctions reversal announced just weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump said on Friday that Russia had agreed to immediately supply diesel to the United States and global markets after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, calling lower fuel prices for Americans his "greatest priority." The Ukrainian president responded within hours with an unusually blunt public rebuke, Reuters reported.
The diesel deal
Trump said on social media that he had a "highly successful" discussion with Putin in which Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel — about 2.25 million barrels — to U.S. and global markets, with additional shipments to follow in November and beyond. Russia's deputy prime minister for energy said the volume could eventually reach 3 million tons per month, Le Monde reported.
The announcement came with a temporary easing of U.S. sanctions on Russian fuel — a sharp reversal of pressure on Moscow. The move follows a law Trump signed last month allowing broad sanctions on Russian officials, banks and tankers, plus tariffs of up to 100% on the top importers of Russian oil and gas. The law gave the president wide discretion to grant exceptions.
The political backdrop is fuel prices. The average price of a gallon of diesel in the U.S. stands at about $6.28 — up from $3.67 a year earlier — squeezing truckers, farmers and tradespeople ahead of the November 3 congressional elections. Regular gasoline has risen from $3.11 to $4.37 a gallon in a year. Analysts say the Russian volumes are unlikely to reduce prices greatly, though the psychological effect briefly pushed prices down.
Zelenskyy's blistering response
"Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "Russia will 'repay' the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged."
The Ukrainian leader called any easing of sanctions without a de-escalation agreement "an obvious weakness," and said his negotiating team had been "used as a front" — the deal was announced while a Ukrainian delegation was in the United States discussing how to seek a resolution of the war. He also offered Kyiv's terms for reciprocal de-escalation: Ukraine would stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Bipartisan backlash in Washington
Criticism crossed party lines. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who co-sponsored the Russia sanctions law, said the decision "makes us complicit in Putin's war against Ukraine," calling it "a stain on our nation's character." Republican Representative Don Bacon called supporting Russia's economy while it wages war "morally wrong," while Democratic Representative Don Beyer called the announcement "infuriating."
Trump dismissed Zelenskyy's criticism when asked by a reporter: "We need oil for the world, and this is diesel, which is what we need, so we're very happy to get it."
The takeaway
The diesel deal lays bare the tension at the heart of U.S. policy: cheaper fuel at home versus maximum pressure on Moscow. Ukraine and its supporters in Congress see sanctions relief as a lifeline for Russia's war economy; the White House sees relief at the pump as its top priority before November. Both sides will be watching whether the shipments — and the prices — actually materialize.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Reuters, USA Today, Le Monde, The Bridge Chronicle.