Zelenskyy Says Ukraine's Team Is Used as a 'Smokescreen'
Washington has authorized Russian diesel transactions through April 7, 2027, while US, Ukrainian and European negotiators work on a peace proposal. Zelenskyy says renewed fuel sales would give Moscow money for its war.
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by Sami Haddad
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
