‘We’re being used as a front,’ Zelensky says of Trump’s diesel deal with Putin

Russia and the U.S. have agreed on a deal to supply Russian diesel fuel to the U.S. and global markets. President Donald Trump announced the agreement on the evening of October 9 after a phone call with Vladimir Putin. Trump called the talks “highly successful.” Putin confirmed that Russia is ready to supply oil and petroleum products to the U.S. and global markets.

The U.S. said it is easing sanctions on Russian diesel. The Treasury Department has already issued a temporary license allowing sales of Russian diesel on the global market through April 7, 2027, despite U.S. sanctions. Washington previously eased sanctions on Russian oil temporarily because of a market crisis caused by the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran.

Russia has also begun lifting restrictions on diesel exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said. Sanctions and domestic export bans restrict exports of Russian oil and petroleum products worldwide. A ban on diesel and marine fuel exports by producers, for example, remains in effect through the end of October. Russia imposed it amid Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and a domestic fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian attacks over the summer.

Trump said the two sides agreed on the “immediate” delivery of more than 300,000 metric tons of Russian diesel. Russia will supply another 500,000 metric tons in November, followed by an additional million metric tons. Novak said Russia is ready to supply additional diesel to the U.S. market as early as October. Exports are also expected to rise in November and December as refineries resume operations after repairs.

Ukraine criticized the diesel deal between Moscow and Washington. President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that any easing of sanctions on Russia without agreements on de-escalation shows “obvious weakness.” “Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. 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. What is needed is real de-escalation with Russia on a reciprocal basis,” he said.

The deal comes as talks on ending the war resume. A Ukrainian delegation is reportedly meeting with U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami on October 9 and 10. Reuters reported that the national security advisers of the U.K., France, and Germany, along with representatives of NATO and the EU, were invited to the talks. Axios reported that the U.S. negotiators plan to present the Ukrainian delegation with “new ideas and proposals” and then discuss them with Russia. No details of the proposals were given. “I think our team is simply being used as a front. That’s certainly dishonest, and it’s certainly no way to treat a partner,” Zelensky told reporters after the U.S. announced the diesel deal.

Russian authorities asked the U.S. to lift sanctions as part of talks on an “energy truce,” sources told The Kyiv Independent on the eve of the diesel deal. Officials in Kyiv said Ukraine was ready to stop attacking Russian oil refineries if Russia agreed to stop striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Trump, who is under pressure over rising U.S. fuel prices ahead of the congressional midterm elections, has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil facilities. He said the attacks were causing global fuel shortages and price increases.

Putin rejected the idea of an “energy truce” with Kyiv on October 2. Speaking at the Valdai forum, he said stopping the strikes alone would not solve the problem of high diesel prices in the U.S. and around the world unless sanctions on Russia were lifted.