Report: Trump struck Russia energy deal after Zelensky ignored requests to halt attacks on refineries
An unnamed US official says Ukraine’s strikes strained ties with Trump, while Kyiv alleges his envoys threatened to cut off intelligence sharing
President Donald Trump decided to strike a diesel supply deal with Russia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disregarded six US requests to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, Axios reported, citing a US official with direct knowledge of the matter.
“Zelensky is misreading the room. By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the good will that he has built with Trump over the last six months,” the official told Axios.
According to the official, Trump wanted Ukraine to stop the strikes unilaterally because they were contributing to high fuel prices in the US.
Zelensky, however, told Trump and his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that Ukraine was willing to halt attacks on Russian refineries if Moscow stopped targeting Ukrainian power plants.
The dispute also produced conflicting accounts of the pressure Washington placed on Kyiv. A Ukrainian official told Axios that Witkoff and Kushner threatened that Trump could end US intelligence sharing if Ukraine continued to disregard his requests.
The US official denied that any such threat was made. Instead, the official said, the envoys emphasized that Washington was supplying Ukraine with munitions and intelligence, and argued that Kyiv should avoid actions that hurt American consumers.
Zelensky told Axios after the announcement that the agreement caught him by surprise. He described it as “not fair and not honest” and an unjustified gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump unveiled the surprise energy agreement on Friday following a call with Putin, saying Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to US and global markets immediately, followed by 500,000 tons in November and another 1 million tons afterward.
He also said Russia would deliver a further 3 million tons within a short period, depending on the condition of its refineries. Trump presented the agreement as a way to lower diesel costs, highlighting the burden on farmers, ranchers and truckers.
His administration temporarily eased sanctions on Russian diesel exports to enable the deliveries, relaxing restrictions intended to limit Moscow’s revenue from energy sales during its war against Ukraine.
Hours after Trump announced the deal, a large fire broke out at the Novoshakhtinsk oil terminal in Russia’s Rostov region following Ukrainian drone strikes, in an apparent indication that Kyiv was continuing to target Russian energy infrastructure.