Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tore into President Donald Trump over a newly struck agreement he warned will bankroll Russia’s war against his country.
Zelenskyy told Axios in a phone interview Friday that Trump’s move to let Russia sell its diesel on world markets was “not fair and not honest.” He went further in a voice memo sent to reporters the same day, branding the deal a “weak decision” and accusing Trump of using Ukraine’s negotiators “as a smokescreen,” according to the Financial Times.
“You know, it looks like a happy birthday present for Putin,” Zelenskyy told Axios, pointing to the Russian leader’s birthday earlier this week. “It looks absolutely terrible.”
Trump announced the arrangement on Truth Social after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming Moscow would ship roughly 4.8 million tons of diesel in stages. The timing stung Kyiv. Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Miami at that moment, sitting down with Ukraine’s negotiating team and senior diplomats from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO to hash out new U.S. proposals for ending the war.
“At this very moment, while our team is speaking with the American team in Florida, the President of the United States is talking to the Kremlin leader, the leader behind this war and this aggression, and is reaching an agreement allowing Russia to export diesel,” Zelenskyy said in the memo.
“This means millions, billions,” he added. “Ultimately, it all goes towards the war against people, against Ukraine, against all of us.”
He called the arrangement “certainly not how partners should act.”
“In my view, it is a weak decision,” Zelenskyy said. “Sadly, a weak decision made by strong partners.”
Roughly two hours after Trump’s post, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license clearing the sale and delivery of Russian-origin diesel, including into the United States, through April 7, 2027. Trump’s announcement made no reference to the license.
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