The diesel deal between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked anger in Ukraine. Under the agreement, Moscow is allowed to supply Russian diesel fuel to global markets. The US news website Axios reported the move came in response to Kyiv's failure to comply with Washington's demands to stop attacks on oil refineries in Russia.
Trump also declared that it was time "for Ukraine to get a new president." The agreement to sell diesel was announced while talks between Ukrainian, US and European representatives were taking place in Miami. "I think our team is simply being used as a cover. That is definitely not fair," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists shortly afterwards, describing Trump's decision as "a weak decision by strong partners." This is hardly Kyiv's first crisis in its relationship with the Trump administration.
In February 2025, Trump told Zelenskyy in the Oval Office "you don’t have the cards." The White House confrontation was followed by a suspension of weapons deliveries and intelligence-sharing agreements. According to media reports, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner threatened to suspend intelligence sharing during the talks in Miami, too, citing Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries as the reason. US officials have denied the reports.
The current tension recalls the dispute in the White House at the time, says Mykhailo Honchar of the Ukrainian Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI" in an interview with DW. However, he says there is no reason for Ukrainians to panic. "Last year, too, there were threats and suspensions of intelligence sharing, as well as disruptions in weapons supplies," he said.
"Then the Americans realized how much this was hurting them, too, and reluctantly resumed everything." All the experts interviewed by DW see a connection between Trump's threats toward Ukraine and the US midterm elections on November 3. In the midterms, all seats in the House of Representatives and roughly one third of Senate seats are up for election. Ivan Us of the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv expects a crushing defeat for the Republicans.
He says the main reason will be high fuel prices. "Donald Trump wants desperately to distract attention from the fact that high prices are linked to his war with Iran and the problems in the Strait of Hormuz. He needs a scapegoat for this.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
