The "Russian diesel" agreement ignites a dispute between Trump and Zelensky

Listen to the article. The audio text is automated, generated by an automated system

US President Donald Trump decided to conclude a diesel supply agreement with Russia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored about six American requests to stop targeting Russian refineries, according to what Axios reported, citing a US official with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked a new crisis between Washington and Kiev, threatening to disrupt the Trump administration’s effort to reach an agreement to end the war, according to the report.

The American official said that the continued attacks on refineries undermine the rapprochement that Zelensky has built with Trump over the past six months. On the other hand, the Ukrainian president confirmed, in an interview with Axios, that he was surprised by the agreement, and described it as “unjust and dishonest,” and an unjustified gift to Putin.

According to the site, the Ukrainian attacks on refineries over the past months caused an energy crisis within Russia, which prompted it to ban diesel exports, which increased pressure on global markets affected by the war in Iran.

Zelensky informed Trump and his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner of his readiness to stop these attacks if Moscow stops targeting Ukrainian power plants.

But the American official said that Trump wanted to stop the Ukrainian strikes unilaterally, because of their contribution to the rise in fuel prices in the United States, and that he did not consider targeting the refineries to be similar to the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian electricity network.

During eight-hour talks in Miami on Friday, Witkopf and Kushner informed the Ukrainian delegation that Trump intends to contact Putin and lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports, after his repeated requests were ignored.

A Ukrainian official said that the envoys threatened to stop providing Kiev with American intelligence information if it continued to ignore those requests. However, the American official denied making this threat, stressing that they stressed American support with ammunition and information, and the need to avoid measures that harm American consumers.

The dispute came after discussions that the American official described as constructive, in which Ukrainian and European diplomats participated, and focused on security guarantees provided by the United States, Europe, and NATO to Ukraine as part of an agreement to end the war.

The talks included proposals to settle land issues, finance reconstruction and rebuild the Ukrainian army, and address the budget deficit, in addition to the path to joining the European Union and the future relationship with NATO, and a possible security framework between Europe and Russia.

The two envoys also presented potential energy deals with Moscow, which Washington hopes will lower prices and encourage Russia to make concessions. Witkoff and Kushner are considering visiting Moscow and Kiev next week, but the impact of the crisis on their plans is not clear.

On the other hand, Putin's foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said that the Russian president did not pledge to resume peace negotiations during his call with Trump, which lasted 90 minutes, and linked this to the Ukrainian strikes during the Russian parliamentary elections.