Moscow/Washington/The president of the United States, Donald Trump, attacked this Saturday against his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, for the bombings by kyiv on Russian diesel refineries and considered that “the time has come for Ukraine to have a new president.” The statements, made to the media outside the White House, come hours after Trump announced that he will authorize Russian diesel operations until April to control the global rise in prices.
“We told him ‘you can do whatever you want with Russia, but don’t attack the refineries’, because that is a global problem that he is causing. And he wants to create problems for the world, problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel, because Russia supplies a large part of the diesel fuel around the world,” Trump argued before leaving for Tennessee, where he will hold a rally for the legislative elections.
The Republican stated that Zelensky has not wanted to reach agreements to end the war, a conflict that, in his opinion, “started due to incompetence.” “It should never have started. They wouldn’t have already lost 30% of their country,” he said. And he added: “I suggest that they look for a new leader capable of reaching an agreement, because he could have closed many agreements and, for some reason, he never does.”
The pact with Russian President Vladimir Putin will allow Russia to export millions of tons of diesel to US and international markets despite Washington’s sanctions on the Russian energy sector, in force since the start of the war, in February 2022. Zelensky criticized it on Friday, calling it “unfair”, “unbecoming of an ally” and “a gift” for Putin.
“I suggest they look for a new leader capable of reaching an agreement, because he could have closed many agreements and, for some reason, he never does”
He was supported by the European Union and numerous US congressmen, Republicans and Democrats, who had supported the latest package of sanctions against Moscow. Days before, the Ukrainian president had already denounced the hypocrisy of the United States for doing business with Russia while regretting “the deadlock” in the peace negotiations, and all this occurs after the death of more than 100 Ukrainian civilians in the last week, according to the UN.
From Moscow, the Russian emissary for economic cooperation with the United States, Kiril Dmitriev, welcomed Trump’s call to change the Ukrainian president. “President Trump joins those who believe Ukraine needs leadership truly focused on peace, not Zelensky’s warmongering,” he wrote in X, noting that “diesel diplomacy exposed Zelensky.”
Trump did not congratulate Putin on his 74th birthday, on October 7, but he gave him the best gift
Trump did not congratulate Putin on his 74th birthday, on October 7, but he gave him the best gift. The Kremlin leader had told him on several occasions: an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine would not solve the problems of the international market; only the resumption of pumping of Russian oil and petroleum products would do so. Aware that a deal with Iran now seems impossible, Trump opted this week to lift restrictions on Russian fuel.
The news comes at the best time for Putin, who wants to approve at all costs a war budget for the next three years with defense spending of $600 billion. Russia’s revenue from hydrocarbon exports has fallen 17% this year despite rising crude oil prices, and the government has had to raise taxes and take other unpopular austerity measures to balance the books. The economy is stagnant and the public deficit already represents 2.2% of GDP. According to forecasts, it will reach 3% by the end of the year, double what was expected.
Russian experts are aware that Trump’s decision is temporary – he faces legislative elections on November 3 – but they consider that it confirms that “there is no isolation from Russia”, but only a Western blockade. Trump “has had to resort to desperate measures to improve his popularity ratings and avoid defeat. We, for our part, took advantage of this and put pressure on Trump and his Administration within the framework of the peace process,” admitted political scientist Malek Dudakov to local media.
That is why Russia now has fewer reasons than ever to negotiate a ceasefire, at least as long as the agreement lasts, until April 2027. In his telephone conversation on Friday, Putin assured that he will think about “when” the tripartite negotiations, stalled since February, can be resumed.
Trump “has had to resort to desperate measures to improve his popularity ratings and avoid defeat”
“Trump and Zelensky never got along,” commented international relations specialist Fyodor Lukianov. The reason, according to the original text, is Zelensky’s refusal to cooperate with Trump to take Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, to court for his business dealings in Ukraine.
According to Axios, Trump tried to convince Zelensky up to six times to stop attacks on Russian refineries, but in exchange he asked that Moscow stop bombing its energy infrastructure. That is, he demanded an energy truce, while Washington demanded unilateral concessions unacceptable to kyiv. For Trump, the Ukrainian and Russian attacks are not comparable, since the former “also harm the United States.”
Lukyanov predicts that “Ukraine will do everything possible to torpedo the agreement.” For now, on Friday the Ukrainians attacked a refinery in the Siberian region of Omsk – about 3,000 kilometers from the border – and on Saturday an oil terminal in the southern region of Rostov. Since June, Ukrainian drones have hit around thirty Russian refineries, some of which have had to suspend operations, reducing the country’s processing capacity to the levels of twenty years ago.
Expert Alexei Mukhin warns that “now the United States is interested in stopping attacks on Russian refineries, but after November 3 it will no longer be interested. Russia does not have to be guided by what interests the United States or Ukraine. We must ensure that the Ukrainian army cannot engage in terrorist activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
The Ukrainians, on the other hand, have other plans, according to the Financial Times. “We will burn down their refineries,” a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper. Official sources told RBK-Ukraine the same thing: “Ukraine will continue attacks on refineries as long as there is no energy truce.”
