{"id":227103,"date":"2026-10-10T14:55:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/zelenskyy-furious-as-trump-announces-deal-to-buy-russian-diesel-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T14:55:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T14:55:40","slug":"zelenskyy-furious-as-trump-announces-deal-to-buy-russian-diesel-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/zelenskyy-furious-as-trump-announces-deal-to-buy-russian-diesel-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskyy furious as Trump announces deal to buy Russian diesel – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

US president says agreement needed to lower fuel prices, but move likely to create fresh crisis with Ukraine and Nato allies
Donald Trump is on a fresh collision course with Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> and European allies after his stunning agreement to buy Russian diesel upended years of US and western pressure on the Kremlin to end its war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy reacted furiously to Trump\u2019s announcement of the deal with Vladimir Putin on Friday, calling it<\/a> \u201cabsolutely terrible\u201d and \u201cnot fair and not honest\u201d.
The Ukrainian president said \u201cback room deals\u201d with the Russian leader would give Putin more chances on the battlefield. On Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian attack had killed 12 people in the south-east, including three children, and Moscow claimed its troops were advancing in the east.
In a move likely to create a fresh crisis with Washington\u2019s Nato<\/a> allies, Trump announced the deal with Putin on his Truth Social network, saying it was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared as a result of his decision to go to war against Iran.
\u201cI have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin<\/a>, of Russia,\u201d he said, to deliver millions of tonnes of diesel fuel over the next few months.
He added: \u201cDiesel prices for Americans and, indeed, the world, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my greatest priority.\u201d
Fuel prices have soared since Iran closed the strait of Hormuz, a strategically sensitive choke point that was the passageway for 20% of global oil supplies before the war. While costs have risen for motorists \u2013 a gallon of regular fuel in the US is about $4.20 (\u00a33.17) \u2013 it is the price of diesel, which last month hit a record high of $6.52, that has inflicted the most damage on Trump and the Republicans as November\u2019s midterm elections approach.
Diesel is the main supply chain fuel, and a rise in its costs feeds into consumer prices and also hurts US farmers, who need it to operate machinery.
Democrats said the agreement undercut a law Trump signed last month <\/a>allowing for a broad range of sanctions on Russian banks, officials and tankers, as well as directing him to impose steep tariffs on the top five importers of oil or natural gas from Russia. The law gave Trump wide discretion to make exceptions to its provisions.
\u201cThis is what failure looks like. Failure for President Trump to live up to his promises to lower costs for Americans. Failure to protect America from its adversaries,\u201d said a statement from the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the banking committee.
Some Republicans also criticised the agreement.
\u201cPropping up Putin\u2019s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities,\u201d congressman Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThe President\u2019s policies towards Russia and Ukraine are failures. We need moral clarity not moral ambiguity.\u201d
Zelenskyy told Axios <\/a>that it \u201clooks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible.\u201d The Russian leader turned 74 this week.
In a long social media post, Zelenskyy, who has had an uneasy relationship with Trump, said<\/a> the deal amounted to \u201can investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged\u201d. Russia was likely to repay it with \u201cfurther terror and perfidy\u201d.
\u201cIt plays into Russia\u2019s hands \u2013 allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world,\u201d he said.
Referring on Saturday to the attack on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia that killed 12 people, Zelenskyy wrote on X: \u201cToday, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.
\u201cLast night confirmed once again that in Russia, they take any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed.\u201d
\u200b<\/strong>Separately, Russian media cited the defence \u2060ministry \u2060\u200bas saying its forces \u2060had \u200bcaptured \u200cthe \u200csettlements of Lukashove \u200cand Lobanivka in Ukraine\u2019s\u200b eastern \u200cKharkiv region.
\u200b<\/strong>Zelenskyy previously said<\/a> Putin had been playing games with Trump, and on Saturday, a Kremlin spokesperson said the Russian leader had responded with \u201cunderstanding\u201d to Trump\u2019s proposals to de-escalate the conflict.
Trump announced the diesel deal as his envoys, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, met Ukrainian and European officials in Miami to discuss proposals to end the war.
Zelenskyy, in a separate statement released by Ukraine\u2019s embassy in Washington on Friday, said the Ukrainian negotiators had been \u201cused as a smokescreen for the deal\u201d, which he called \u201ca weak decision by strong partners\u201d.
\u201cThat is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,\u201d he said.
Trump recently criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries, calling on Zelenskyy to choose alternative targets. The Ukrainian leader rejected the request unless Russia stopped attacking Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure.
Tensions have been rising between Russia and European Nato members amid speculation that Moscow might be preparing military action intended to test the alliance\u2019s resolve.
The latest development is likely to worsen Zelenskyy\u2019s relationship with the Trump administration<\/a>. He was infamously ambushed by Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, last year in an explosive White House encounter when the president told him: \u201cYou don\u2019t have the cards.\u201d
But Trump has since reportedly grown disenchanted with Putin, expressing disappointment at his failure to reach a peace deal.
Trump\u2019s willingness to reach a fuel agreement with Putin comes despite Russia\u2019s support for Iran in its war with the US. Russia is believed to have given Iran satellite intelligence and overhead surveillance data detailing the locations of US forces, ships, aircraft and military bases. It has also provided drone components and ammunition.<\/p>\n

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US president says agreement needed to lower fuel prices, but move likely to create fresh crisis with Ukraine and Nato alliesDonald Trump is on a fresh collision course with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies after his stunning agreement to buy Russian diesel upended years of US and western pressure on the Kremlin to end its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}