Russia launched deadly strikes against civilians in Ukraine as a “thank you” for a deal Donald Trump struck with Vladimir Putin to buy large quantities of Russian diesel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, accusing Washington of helping finance Moscow’s war.
Ukraine’s president has repeatedly expressed outrage at the deal announced by Trump on Friday, which the US president said was necessary to reduce diesel prices, and which comes ahead of November’s midterm elections in which fuel costs are a key issue for voters.
The deal, which appeared to sideline kyiv because it was announced while Ukrainian negotiators were in Miami for peace talks, was described by Zelensky as a “gift” to the Russian president.
He said Russia would use money raised from fuel sales to invest in its war and that “any easing of sanctions” would play into Russia’s hands, “allowing it to kill more and wage war longer.”
That prediction came true hours later, when Ukrainian authorities announced that a barrage of Russian strikes on the country’s southeast early Saturday had killed 15 people, including three children.
“Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five hover bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said on social media on Saturday.
“Last night confirmed once again that in Russia, any easing of pressure means they can continue to fight, they can continue to drop bombs on cities. Different signals are needed,” he said.
There were also “large-scale power outages” in the capital, kyiv, the country’s largest private energy provider said.
In sharp contrast to Zelensky’s open frustration with Trump, the Kremlin’s reading of Friday’s call between the US president and Putin was glowing, with Russia’s Interfax news agency quoting an aide as saying the call was “very substantive and friendly.”
“Neither wanted to be the first to hang up,” Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said of the two leaders. “They hung up simultaneously, literally at the same time.” Zelenskyy has already said that Putin is playing with Trump.
The diesel deal disrupts four years of Western financial pressure on Moscow and leaves kyiv’s allies in Europe and NATO scrambling to adapt their sanctions plan. The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the diesel deal “provides Moscow with more revenue to wage war.”
“Now is not the time to ease the pressure on Russia, and Europe will not,” she said on Saturday. “On Monday, EU foreign ministers intend to approve the largest list of sanctions targeting the Russian war machine since the start of the war.” She was referring to plans to officially add 1,600 new people and entities to the EU sanctions blacklist.
Major European governments have tried to balance diplomatic and trade relations with a changing Trump and their support for Ukraine.
German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said Berlin “remains committed to the sanctions imposed on Russia and is working with its European partners on further sanctions,” adding that support for Ukraine “remains unwavering.”
Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, expressed “regret” over the US deal, saying energy revenues were “a vital source to finance Russia’s war of aggression.”
Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia “must feel its losses” and promised to respond. In the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, Ukrainian attacks over the past 24 hours have killed four civilians and injured five others, the region’s Russian-installed governor, Leonid Pasechnik, said Saturday.
Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to take “de-escalation steps” in the war, but only if Russia did the same.
Russian production of the fuel has become a key point of contention between Zelensky and Trump, who has tried to stop Ukraine from bombing Russian refineries, which he says is exacerbating the global diesel shortage. The Ukrainian leader rejected the demands unless Russia stops attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
The Financial Times reported that during discussions in Miami, Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the possibility that US intelligence sharing could be disrupted if kyiv did not stop the strikes.
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