Trump–Putin 'diesel deal': Europe vows not to ease pressure on Russia

What happened

On 9 October US President Donald Trump announced an “extremely successful conversation” with Vladimir Putin and a deal on supplies of Russian diesel fuel to American and world markets, which means suspending sanctions on Russian diesel. According to Ukrainska Pravda, the Russian government has already partially lifted its own diesel export ban to implement the arrangement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called lifting the sanctions an “absolutely terrible step” and a “birthday present to Putin” that will give the aggressor billions more for the war. He also said the Ukrainian negotiating team, which was in the United States at the time, had been used “simply as a screen”.

The EU: “Now is not the time for weakness”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X: “Suspending sanctions on Russian diesel gives Moscow additional revenue to wage war. Now is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe will not do so.”

Kallas noted that more than 80 Ukrainian civilians were killed in two days of Russian strikes and that Russia has stepped up hybrid attacks against EU and NATO countries. She said EU foreign ministers intend to approve on Monday the largest list of sanctions against Russia’s war machine since the start of the war.

Germany, Finland and Estonia

The German government confirmed that Russian diesel will not reach Germany and that its support for Ukraine “remains unchanged”.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called the deal a “terrible disappointment”, although in his view the agreed volume is only a small share of US consumption and is unlikely to move the US or world market. Orpo urged Europe to act more decisively and adopt additional sanctions.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called Washington’s decision a big mistake: “Deals with dictators are the road to hell. Innocent people are killed with the money earned from gas and fuel.” He proposed discussing at the European Council whether support for Ukraine can be quickly increased “so that it turns Russian oil refineries into ruins”.

Australia: “We don’t want Russian fuel”

The reaction came from far beyond Europe too. Australia’s energy minister Chris Bowen, quoted by The Guardian, said the country does not need and will not buy Russian fuel, and that Russia must not be rewarded for its invasion of Ukraine through deals struck amid the Middle East crisis. Other countries’ policies, including those of the US, are their own business, but Canberra will not change its approach, he said.

Why it matters

According to Axios, cited by Ukrainska Pravda, Trump went for the deal after Kyiv ignored several US requests to stop striking Russian refineries. Zelensky describes those strikes as a response to years of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and says Ukraine will not “burn” Russian refining if Russia stops such attacks.

All eyes are now on next week: the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the European Council summit, where leaders will have to show whether Europe can offset the easing of American pressure on Moscow.