Trump announces Putin diesel deal as strikes kill seven in Zaporizhzhia

US President Donald Trump announced on 9 October that he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import Russian diesel, as Russian aerial bombs struck residential buildings in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, killing seven people including three children and wounding at least 10, regional military administration head Mykhailo Semikin said on Saturday.independent.co.uk+1

The deal marks a reversal of years of US pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and comes as Trump seeks to address high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the agreement would allow Russia to prolong the war, calling it an investment in a conflict that must be ended rather than prolonged.

What the deal includes

Trump said on social media on 9 October that Putin had agreed to release more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately to the American and global marketplace, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and 1 million tonnes immediately thereafter. A further 3 million tonnes would follow within a short period of time, dependent on the condition of Russian refineries, which Ukrainian drones have attacked.bbc.co.uk

The US Treasury issued a temporary licence allowing Russian diesel into the market, suspending sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April, while other assets such as those in American banks remain frozen. The licence runs through April 2027, according to inews. Trump did not specify whether the US itself would pay for the diesel or whether private companies would strike deals with the Kremlin.inews.co.uk

Zelenskyy said Russia would repay the diesel with further terror and perfidy, and that the deal played into Russia's hands by allowing it to kill more and wage war longer. In a statement released by the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, Zelenskyy called it a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners, and said he believed negotiations with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had been used as a smokescreen.

Ukraine and US lawmakers respond

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Elizabeth Warren said the announcement was a betrayal of Ukraine, European allies and US national security. Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican, said the President's policies towards Russia and Ukraine are failures, while Congressman Don Beyer called the announcement infuriating. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said the deal made the US complicit in Putin's war.

Analysts questioned whether Russia can supply the announced quantities. Tim Armitage, investment strategist at Quilter Cheviot, said the first tranche equated to approximately 2.25 million barrels against daily US consumption of around 3.8 million barrels, so it would not make a material difference to pump prices. The average US diesel price is $6.28 a gallon, down from a record $6.53 at the end of September.

Russia has experienced two waves of severe fuel shortages this year due to Ukrainian drone strikes on its oil refineries. According to the International Energy Agency, Russian diesel production is estimated to have fallen by nearly 30%. Zelenskyy defended the strikes, saying Ukraine will not set Russian oil refineries on fire if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure.

Putin said in a statement that he and Trump had spoken about the global energy situation, and that Russia confirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to the American and global markets. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov declined to answer Russian media questions about whether the US had made any concessions in exchange for the diesel release.

Negotiators for the US, Ukraine and Europe held six hours of talks in Miami on 9 October on ending the war, discussing a postwar economic package for Ukraine and a potential new security architecture between Europe and Russia, a source briefed on the talks said. Trump announced the diesel deal as Kushner and Witkoff were meeting Ukrainian officials in Florida.

Russian strikes killed three people and wounded at least eight across Ukraine on 9 October, and attacks over the following days killed more than 55 people in four days. The deal came as Trump signed a Russia sanctions law last month targeting the country's energy sector, banks, shadow tankers and sovereign debt handling.