Donald 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 war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy reacted furiously to Trump’s announcement of the deal with Vladimir Putin on Friday, calling it “absolutely terrible” and “not fair and not honest”.
The Ukrainian president said “back room deals” 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’s Nato 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.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia,” he said, to deliver millions of tonnes of diesel fuel over the next few months.
He added: “Diesel 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.”
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 – a gallon of regular fuel in the US is about $4.20 (£3.17) – 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’s 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 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.
“This 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,” 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.
“Propping up Putin’s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities,” congressman Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X. “The President’s policies towards Russia and Ukraine are failures. We need moral clarity not moral ambiguity.”
Zelenskyy told Axios that it “looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible.” The Russian leader turned 74 this week.
In a long social media post, Zelenskyy, who has had an uneasy relationship with Trump, said the deal amounted to “an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged”. Russia was likely to repay it with “further terror and perfidy”.
“It plays into Russia’s hands – 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,” he said.
Referring on Saturday to the attack on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia that killed 12 people, Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.
“Last 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.”
Separately, Russian media cited the defence ministry as saying its forces had captured the settlements of Lukashove and Lobanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.
Zelenskyy previously said Putin had been playing games with Trump, and on Saturday, a Kremlin spokesperson said the Russian leader had responded with “understanding” to Trump’s 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’s embassy in Washington on Friday, said the Ukrainian negotiators had been “used as a smokescreen for the deal”, which he called “a weak decision by strong partners”.
“That is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,” 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’s 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’s resolve.
The latest development is likely to worsen Zelenskyy’s relationship with the Trump administration. 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: “You don’t have the cards.”
But Trump has since reportedly grown disenchanted with Putin, expressing disappointment at his failure to reach a peace deal.
Trump’s willingness to reach a fuel agreement with Putin comes despite Russia’s 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.
