Trump Strikes Diesel Deal with Putin After Zelensky Ignores Appeals to Halt Strikes on Russian Refineries

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump agreed to a diesel supply arrangement with Russia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly ignored American appeals to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, a US official with direct knowledge of the matter said. The decision has again heightened tensions between Washington and Kyiv and risks undermining the Trump administration’s latest diplomatic push to end the war.
“Zelensky doesn’t understand the situation correctly,” the official said, adding that by continuing the refinery strikes he is damaging the goodwill built with Trump over the past six months. In his first interview with Axios, Zelensky criticized the deal, saying he was not informed in advance. He called it unfair and dishonest, and said it amounted to an unjustified gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries in recent months have disrupted Russia’s energy sector and deepened its fuel crisis. Moscow responded by banning diesel exports, adding pressure to global fuel markets already strained by the war involving Iran. According to the official, Trump wanted Ukraine to unilaterally halt the strikes because they were pushing up gasoline prices in the United States, and he does not view them as equivalent to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid.
Zelensky had told Trump and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that Kyiv would stop targeting Russian refineries if Moscow ceased attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. During eight hours of talks in Miami on Friday, Witkoff and Kushner told Ukrainian negotiators that Trump was expected to speak with Putin and might ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports. The US delegation said the decision followed Kyiv’s repeated refusal to halt the attacks, which Washington believed were hurting American consumers.
A Ukrainian official claimed the envoys threatened to stop sharing intelligence if Ukraine kept ignoring US requests. The US official denied any such threat, saying the envoys instead stressed that Washington is a strong partner to Ukraine through weapons and intelligence support.