Russia doubles diesel exports after Trump-Putin deal as Ukraine resumes refinery strikes

Diesel exports rise under a US arrangement

In early October 2026, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin reached a diesel arrangement that temporarily eased US Treasury sanctions on Russian diesel, according to the Financial Times. Under the deal with the White House, Russia sent four tankers carrying diesel toward the United States, yet none had reached the American coast when the report was published. The same reporting finds that Russian diesel shipments to Brazil and Turkey, among other countries, have grown, and that Russia's diesel exports have doubled. Trump has said the arrangement will push fuel prices down in the United States. For American consumers, however, that benefit has not yet arrived.

Ukraine resumes refinery strikes

Ukraine suspended its strikes on Russian oil refineries in October 2026 under pressure from Washington, amid concern about rising global fuel prices, according to the Atlantic Council. Trump then publicly asked Kyiv to stop the attacks, which deepened tension between Ukraine and the United States. Zelenski initially backed Trump's proposed energy truce but insisted that any truce must be bilateral. After Moscow kept bombing Ukraine's civilian power grid, Kyiv resumed its strikes with a new wave beginning on 30 October 2026. Reuters reports that nine of Russia's 35 large refineries were hit over ten days, including facilities in Riazan, Yaroslavl and the Volga region, cutting refining capacity by about 30%. Zelenski said Russia had rejected de-escalation steps discussed by Ukraine's partners, so Ukraine no longer considered itself bound by a pledge to halt energy strikes. Some Russian regions began reporting fuel shortages in early November 2026, and gasoline rationing followed.

Blackouts across Kyiv

Repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have pushed millions of people toward a crisis, with outages growing longer as temperatures fall. A BBC report from the capital says some Kyiv families go without power for up to 20 hours a day, and authorities fear daily life will become unbearable if electricity cannot be provided for at least four hours a day. Scheduled outages began in October, earlier than in the previous winter. One single mother living with her two children on the seventh floor said she had power for two hours and then none for eight. When the power goes off, the lift stops and water stops reaching the flat because the pumps need electricity, so the family relies on lanterns and LED candles.

NATO on the Abu Dhabi talks

Officials from NATO are taking part in talks in Abu Dhabi on a future European security agreement, Euronews reports. NATO said its Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, attends in his capacity as commander of US European Command, to advise American leaders on Trump's efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. John Stringer, the deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told Euronews he hopes Russia negotiates in good faith, but he sees few signs that Putin has dropped his maximalist claims. Stringer said Ukraine's armistice goals are of paramount importance to NATO, and he hoped Moscow's demands were not merely a repeat of its 2022 war aims, which included annexing parts of Ukraine. Asked about pressure on Kyiv to cede parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, he said only Ukraine can decide on its territory. He also praised Ukraine's operations against Russian refineries, while Trump has asked Kyiv to abandon that strategy, arguing the strikes push up prices.