Zelensky on Trump-Putin diesel deal: easing sanctions is weakness

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear, long-term de-escalation agreement as “a show of obvious weakness.” He was responding on Friday to Donald Trump’s announcement that Russia will supply the United States and the world with almost five million tonnes of diesel fuel.

“This plays into Russia’s hands: it lets Russia kill more, wage war for longer, respect America less and do the world even greater damage,” Zelensky wrote on X. In his words, “gifts to Putin” will bring neither peace nor benefit to the civilized world, and permission to sell petroleum products is “an investment in war”: Russia will “repay” the diesel with new terror and treachery.

Earlier, Trump said that after a conversation with Putin, Russia will immediately deliver more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, another 500,000 tonnes in November and a million tonnes right after that.

Zelensky reminded that Ukraine is ready for “symmetrical de-escalation steps”. He described strikes on Russian oil refineries as a response to a years-long campaign of terror against Ukraine’s energy sector: “Ukraine will not set Russian refineries on fire if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure.” According to him, this is exactly the arrangement Kyiv is proposing to America, and it believes the US has enough influence to broker such a compromise.

On Saturday night, a Ukrainian delegation is due to meet Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the United States. It is expected to learn which restrictions Moscow demands be lifted in exchange for a truce in the energy sphere and in the Black Sea.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz