Zelenskyy Says Ukraine's Team Is Used as a 'Smokescreen'

Donald Trump announced about 4.8 million tonnes of Russian diesel for US and global markets as Washington eased sanctions and negotiators met to develop a Ukraine peace proposal. ^[1][2][4]

The US president announced the arrangement on October 9 after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Treasury Department issued a temporary authorization permitting specified transactions involving Russian-origin diesel through April 7, 2027, including sale, delivery, offloading and importation. It does not end all US sanctions on Russia. ^[4][6]

The decision opens a route for Russian fuel sales while Washington, Kyiv and European governments try to agree on terms for ending the war. Energy analysts said the diesel could offer limited price relief while easing the financial pressure on Moscow. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the proceeds would help Russia keep fighting. ^[2][3][5]

The promised deliveries are not yet confirmed. The reports identify neither buyers nor shipping arrangements, establish no allocation for the United States and provide no basis for calculating Moscow's proceeds. The full Treasury license text was not available in the pages reviewed, leaving its precise transaction limits unresolved, including a reported restriction concerning diesel already loaded onto tankers by October 9. ^[1][4][5]

Zelenskyy called the decision weak and unfair, and said he believed Ukraine's negotiating team was being used as a "smokescreen". His objection was direct: money from renewed sales would go toward Russia's war against Ukraine. ^[1][2][5]

A fuel promise with a refinery condition

Trump described a stepped supply schedule: more than 300,000 tonnes immediately, another 500,000 in November, then one million, followed by a further three million within a short time. The last tranche depended on refinery conditions. Together, the amounts add up to about 4.8 million tonnes. ^[1][4][6]

That condition matters because Russia has been restricting exports of the very fuel it is now offering. Ukrainian drone attacks damaged Russian refineries and contributed to domestic supply pressures. The Associated Press reported that Russia had banned diesel exports since July. MercoPress said the suspension was due to expire at the end of October. ^[1][4]

The largest part of Trump's announced supply, three million tonnes, therefore rests partly on facilities whose condition helped drive Russia's export restrictions. Permission to trade can remove a legal obstacle. It cannot repair a refinery.

Putin said Russia was ready to supply oil and petroleum products to US and global markets, and expressed confidence that doing so would benefit the global economy. His investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said energy cooperation between the two countries would continue and benefit global markets. ^[1][4]

The US authorization also follows a recent move in the opposite direction. Three weeks earlier, Trump signed a law authorizing tariffs of up to 100% on leading importers of Russian oil or gas, among other provisions, according to CNBC. The diesel decision drew criticism from lawmakers in both parties, including Republican Representative Michael McCaul, who warned that easing sanctions could fund Russia's war. ^[6]

High prices, limited relief

The fuel announcement arrived with diesel prices already at painful levels. US prices reached a record in September, and the national average was about $6.28 a gallon on October 9, according to the Associated Press. Diesel prices in Europe had also reached records. ^[3][4]

Diesel costs travel beyond the filling station. Trucks carry freight, make deliveries and move food, and higher transport costs can be passed on to consumers. That gives governments a reason to seek more supply even when the seller is a country they are trying to pressure. ^[3]

Diesel futures fell after Trump's announcement. But energy experts interviewed by the Associated Press doubted that the arrangement would substantially lower US or global prices. ^[1][3]

Energy analyst Michael Lynch said Russian deliveries could replace fuel previously sold to other customers rather than increase the world's total supply. If a shipment changes destination, the new buyer gains access, but another buyer must find replacement fuel. The headline volume alone cannot measure the gain to the market. ^[3]

Daniel Sternoff said additional Russian diesel might take the edge off prices without substantially reducing them. Clayton Seigle warned that the arrangement could ease Moscow's revenue squeeze. Their assessments point to an uneven bargain: modest potential relief for fuel buyers, alongside a possible financial benefit for Russia. ^[3]

Miami works toward a proposal

The diplomatic track was moving separately. US, Ukrainian and European negotiators met in Miami for six hours on October 9, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Hindu. A person familiar with the talks said the goal was to agree on a unified proposal in the coming weeks and present it to Russia, seeking a breakthrough before winter. ^[2]

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner joined Ukrainian and European delegations and NATO representatives. The discussions covered proposed security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic plan, a route to European Union membership and ideas concerning territory. The account gave no details of those territorial ideas. ^[2]

Russia was not a participant in those talks. Putin also said an immediate resumption of peace negotiations was unlikely, citing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow. Washington was thus opening diesel transactions while its partners worked on an offer still to be taken to Russia. ^[2][4]

For Kyiv, sanctions are part of the pressure intended to constrain the country attacking it. Zelenskyy's response shows the risk to trust when that pressure is relaxed during negotiations. The fuel decision gives Ukraine another reason to scrutinize what Washington is prepared to offer Moscow before a peace settlement exists. ^[1][5]

The next planned diplomatic step is for the Miami participants to settle a common proposal and take it to Russia in the coming weeks. Their stated target is a breakthrough before winter. ^[2]