Trump Waives Russia Sanctions for Putin Diesel Deal, Blindsiding Ukraine

On Oct. 9, Trump announced a deal with Russia lifting sanctions to allow Russian diesel exports to the United States and global energy markets, aimed at easing fuel price spikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he learned of the agreement only after it was made, without Ukraine's input, and a U.S. official told Axios that Trump struck the deal after Zelensky ignored roughly half a dozen U.S. requests to stop striking Russian oil refineries.

The move eases economic pressure on Russia nearly four years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at a moment when Kyiv has relied on refinery strikes to constrain Moscow's war financing. Zelensky called the deal "not fair and not honest," a "sign of weakness," and a "birthday gift" to Putin.

The arrangement is now in effect; how much diesel will flow and its effect on global prices was not yet clear from available reporting. The dispute is, per Axios, the most serious rupture between Trump and Zelensky since their public February 2025 Oval Office confrontation.