Policy U-turn before midterm elections! Trump buys diesel from Putin, Zelensky criticizes

As the countdown to the U.S. midterm elections begins, U.S. President Trump announced on Friday (10th) Eastern Time that he has reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import millions of tons of diesel from Russia to stabilize the rising domestic fuel prices in the United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced this as "a weak decision made by a powerful partner."

The Associated Press reported that Trump said on social media on Friday that he reached the agreement during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call was originally expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. However, Trump announced that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, an additional 500,000 tons in November, 1 million tons later, and another 3 million tons shortly.

However, Trump only signed a comprehensive sanctions bill against Russia last month; the bill is aimed at cracking down on oil and natural gas revenue that supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After Trump announced the above news, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the issuance of a six-month temporary license to suspend sanctions on this batch of Russian diesel.

The Kremlin also confirmed that the United States and Russia had reached a rare diesel agreement. Putin publicly stated that Russia "confirmed its willingness to supply oil and petroleum products to the United States and the global market," stressing that "I am convinced that this will have a positive impact on the entire global economy." The media asked whether there were any quid pro quo in this agreement, but Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov was reserved and unwilling to disclose whether the United States had made any specific commitments or concessions.

The report pointed out that the Trump administration’s latest move subverts the U.S. energy blockade policy against Moscow since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, triggering criticism at home and abroad. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer and cross-party lawmakers immediately denounced the move as "a complete betrayal of Ukraine and our EU allies" and tantamount to directly injecting funds into Putin's war machine.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington also issued a statement, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling the decision "unfortunately a weak decision taken by a powerful partner."

Zelensky posted a long post on social media, saying that Russia would reciprocate with "further terror and perfidy." He viewed the deal as an investment in the war and allowed it to be prolonged. "This plays exactly into Russia's hands - allowing them to kill more people, fight longer wars, disrespect the United States even more, and cause greater loss and destruction to the world."