'Time for our own peace strategy': Kubilius, Carney and Lescure respond to Trump's course

Kubilius: don’t count on Washington

EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius wrote on X overnight into 12 October that Europe can no longer count on the US administration to help bring peace to Ukraine.

“Until now the EU has been Ukraine’s only major financial donor, but it counted on the US political leadership to help establish peace in Ukraine,” he wrote. “The time has come for the EU, together with Ukraine, to develop and implement an independent peace strategy.”

The statement followed a string of moves by Donald Trump: a deal with Putin to lift sanctions on Russian diesel, remarks that Ukraine needs a “new president”, and the announcement of an “energy ceasefire” that Russia never confirmed.

Canada: the deal ‘directly contradicts’ peace efforts

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky on 11 October. Carney’s office said the two discussed the US–Russia agreement to supply millions of litres of diesel to the United States.

“The Prime Minister was unequivocal: this deal directly contradicts the efforts of Ukraine, Canada and other allies to achieve peace and stability in Europe. It will give Russia additional funds and help finance its illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine,” the statement said. Carney promised that Canada “will maintain and, if necessary, strengthen sanctions”. As Ukrinform notes, since the full-scale invasion began Canada has provided Ukraine with more than $7 billion in military aid and sanctioned more than 3,500 individuals and entities.

France: ‘We will not betray Ukraine’

French Economy and Finance Minister Roland Lescure told France Inter on 11 October: “We will not betray Ukraine.” He said EU foreign ministers meeting on 12 October would consider expanding sanctions against Russia: “Today we want to strengthen sanctions, not weaken them.”

Responding to Trump’s words about changing Ukraine’s president, Lescure said: “Only the Ukrainian people can choose their leader… But today Volodymyr Zelensky is the President of Ukraine. And he is an outstanding president.”

The minister also explained where Russian diesel may go. Thanks to Ukrainian strikes on refineries, he said, Russia stopped exporting diesel it used to send to Asia, so if the deal goes ahead it will most likely end up there again. “We know the origin of every litre of diesel you buy at the pump… There is no Russian diesel in France and there won’t be,” Lescure stressed. Prices at French filling stations, he said, should be eased by the government’s decision to release 10 million barrels of diesel from strategic reserves over three months.

The size of the deal

On 9 October Trump said that, with US consent, Russia would immediately put 300,000 tonnes of diesel on the world market, 500,000 tonnes more in November and a million tonnes after that. Russia later promised to bring another 3 million tonnes to market.

Why it matters

Ukraine’s allies are diverging from Washington ever more openly. This week’s EU Foreign Affairs Council and European Council summit will test whether Kubilius’s call for an “independent peace strategy” turns into concrete decisions.