Trump defends Russian diesel deal as Kyiv says Moscow broke energy truce

Terms of the diesel deal

On 9 October 2026 Donald Trump announced that Russia would supply diesel to the American and world markets, and the US temporarily lifted sanctions that had targeted Russian fuel exports. Trump said Russia would immediately deliver more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel (225 million barrels), then 500,000 tonnes in November and a further 1 million tonnes right after. Vladimir Putin confirmed the arrangement the same day, Deutsche Welle reported. Trump framed the move as a way to bring fuel prices down before the 3 November midterm elections. Focus reported that the average US diesel price stood at $6.27 per gallon on 9 October, nearly double a year earlier.

Witkoff and Kushner's message to Kyiv

Reuters sources said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian officials in Miami on 9 October and described the diesel arrangement as part of an effort to bring Russia back to the negotiating table. They told Kyiv that Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to the war, and that the arrangement could lead to resumed trilateral talks. Kushner also said Trump was asking Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries, a request the administration had made repeatedly. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on state television that Russia could raise diesel exports to 3 to 3.5 million tonnes a month by the end of the year, a level it exceeded before Ukraine began drone attacks on refineries in 2024 and 2025. Novak also said global diesel prices had already fallen 5 to 6%. The US Energy Information Administration puts US transport diesel use alone at about 2.94 million barrels a day, so the promised volume amounts to less than one day of that consumption.

Energy truce and continued strikes

On 11 October Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine would stop attacking energy facilities. Neither side confirmed the halt, and Russia struck Ukrainian energy facilities on 12 October. Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of attacking gas production facilities and filling stations overnight, breaking the truce promoted by the White House. He said Ukraine would stop its long-range strikes only if Russia effectively stopped bombing Ukraine's energy system and critical infrastructure. LBC reported that Russia hit at least six energy targets during airstrikes across Ukraine. The Kremlin has not confirmed the truce, and the Russian embassy in Washington and the Ukrainian presidential office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Casualties in Kyiv and Kharkiv

In Kyiv a new Russian strike on a high-rise apartment block killed two people and injured at least nine, while attacks in other regions killed at least six, officials said, according to LBC. In Kharkiv, LBC reported at least three killed and at least 22 wounded. Earlier, 20 minutos reported that an overnight bombardment of Kharkiv had hit a four-storey residential building, with rescuers recovering two bodies. Mayor Igor Terejov later said a third body had been found under the same rubble and that another person might be trapped.

Trump's defence and the US legal question

On 12 October Trump defended the deal in a post on Truth Social, saying he had made the right choice for the American people. Reuters reported that he presented the move as a way to curb fuel price increases, which have risen since he started a war with Iran seven months earlier, and blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries as one main cause. Republican and Democratic lawmakers said the arrangement could violate a US law that bars Russian energy imports until Russia ends its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking before boarding his helicopter for a rally in Ohio, Trump said Putin wanted a deal more than Zelenskyy, and that both leaders should meet. He also said Russia had lost 32,000 people, mostly young soldiers, in the last month alone. Deutsche Welle reported that Trump said Ukraine needs a new head of state.

European criticism

European officials sharply criticised the deal, saying it would give Russia additional revenue to wage war on Ukraine, Deutsche Welle reported. The EU also approved its largest sanctions package against Russia's military-industrial complex since the 2022 invasion, covering more than 1,500 individuals and entities, which Kyiv called a necessary step to force an end to the war. Nigel Farage said he was disappointed with Trump over the deal but placed more blame on Germany and other EU countries.

The real villain of the piece here is Germany and other European Union countries who have been buying vast amounts of Russian gas ever since the Ukrainian invasion, and no one ever talks about it.

Farage told LBC that he did not agree with what Trump had done, and he noted that Europe's own gas purchases from Russia continued after the invasion.