Donald Trump was on a fresh collision course with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European allies after a stunning agreement to buy Russian diesel, upending years of US and western pressure on the Kremlin to end its four-and-a-half year war against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy reacted furiously to Trump’s announcement of the deal with Vladimir Putin , calling it “absolutely terrible” and “not fair and not honest”.
The Ukrainian leader said “back room deals” with the Russian president would give Putin more chances on the battlefield. Hours later, on Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian attack had killed 12 people in the south-east, including three children, while Moscow claimed its troops were advancing in the east.
In a move likely to create a fresh crisis with Washington’s Nato allies, Trump announced the deal with Putin on his Truth Social network on Friday, saying it was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared as a result of his decision to go to war with Iran.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia,” he said, to deliver millions of tonnes of diesel fuel over the next few months.
He added: “Diesel prices for Americans and, indeed, the world, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my greatest priority.”
Fuel prices have rocketed due to Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz, a strategically sensitive choke point that was the passageway for 20% of global oil supplies before the war. While costs have risen for motorists – with a gallon of regular fuel averaging about $4.20 (£3.17) – it is the soaring price of diesel, which last month rose to a record high of $6.52, that has inflicted the most political damage to Trump and the Republicans as November’s midterm elections approach.
Diesel is the main supply chain fuel, and a rise in its costs feeds into consumer prices and also hurts US farmers, who need to operate machinery.
The agreement was criticized by Democrats, who said it undercut a law Trump signed last month allowing for a broad range of sanctions on Russian banks, officials and tankers, as well as directing him to impose steep tariffs on the top five importers of oil or natural gas from Russia. The law gave Trump wide discretion to make exceptions to its provisions.
“This is what failure looks like. Failure for President Trump to live up to his promises to lower costs for Americans. Failure to protect America from its adversaries,” the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, joined by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the banking committee, said in a statement.
Some Republicans were also critical of the agreement.
“Propping up Putin’s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities,” congressman Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, wrote on X. “The President’s policies towards Russia and Ukraine are failures. We need moral clarity not moral ambiguity.”
Perhaps the fiercest response came from Zelenskyy, who told Axios that it “looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible”. The Russian leader turned 74 earlier this week.
In a long social media post, Zelenskyy, who has had an uneasy relationship with Trump, said the deal amounted to “an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged”. Russia was likely to repay it with “further terror and perfidy”.
“It plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world,” he said.
On Saturday, officials in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia said Russian airstrikes had killed eight people, including three children. Ivan Fedorov, co-chair of the defence council of the Zaporizhzhia region, said at least 16 people were wounded and 12 others missing.
Separately, Russian media cited the defence ministry as saying its forces had captured the settlements of Lukashove and Lobanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.
Zelenskyy previously said Putin had been playing games with Trump, and on Saturday, a Kremlin spokesperson said the Russian leader had responded with “understanding” to Trump’s proposals to de-escalate the conflict.
Trump announced the oil deal as his envoys, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with Ukrainian and European officials in Miami to discuss proposals to end the war.
Zelenskyy, in a separate statement released by Ukraine’s embassy in Washington on Friday, said the Ukrainian negotiators had been “used as a smokescreen for the deal”, which he called “a weak decision by strong partners”.
“That is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,” he said.
Trump has recently criticized Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries, calling on Zelenskyy to choose alternative targets. The Ukrainian leader rejected the request unless Russia accepted a reciprocal de-escalation plan that would stop Moscow attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The agreement comes on the heels of rising tensions between Russia and Washington’s Nato allies in Europe, amid speculation that Moscow might be preparing military action intended to test the alliance’s resolve.
The latest development is likely to lead to a further deterioration of Zelenskyy’s relationship with the Trump administration. He was infamously ambushed by Trump and the vice-president, JD Vance, last year in an explosive White House encounter when the president told him: “You don’t have the cards.”
But Trump has since reportedly grown disenchanted with Putin, expressing disappointment at his failure to reach a deal.
Trump’s willingness to reach an agreement with Putin to lower fuel costs comes despite Russia’s support for Iran in its war with the US. Russia is believed to have given Iran satellite intelligence and overhead surveillance data detailing the locations of American forces, ships, aircraft and military bases. It has also provided drone components and ammunition.
