EA on TVP World: Selling Out Ukraine — The Trump-Putin Deal on Russia’s Diesel Fuel
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Selling Out Kyiv — Trump’s Economic Deals With Russia
Russia has declared that, following Donald Trump’s agreement to purchase Russian diesel fuel, exports will return to levels before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on State TV on Monday, “We will see how the situation develops further, but Russia has the capacity to increase diesel fuel exports. By the end of the year, exports could reach 3-3.5m metric tons per month.”
The US banned the import of Russian fuel in April 2022, and sanctions have tightened the restrictions. Last month the US Congress passed a bill mandating the White House to impose 100% tariffs on the top five countries buying Moscow’s supplies.
But Trump has not implemented the tariffs. On Friday, blaming Ukraine for rising diesel prices caused by the US War on Iran, Trump declared the agreement for the Russian fuel.Some Republican legislators have joined Democrats in denouncing the deal. A bipartisan group called on Trump to “reverse course”, noting it violates the April 2022 ban. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas posted, “We should be tightening sanctions further, not undercutting them.”
Witkoff and Kushner, who have been compromised by Russia with multi-billion offers for joint projects including in the oil industry, insisted to Ukrainian officials that the permission for Russian diesel exports is part of a plan to bring the Kremlin back into negotiations.
Witkoff reportedly told Ukrainian officials in Miami last Friday, as Trump made his announcement, that Vladimir Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to his invasion. The deal could help “soften” Moscow’s position as it “sends a signal that Trump is open to do things”.
However, on Monday the Kremlin refused to comment on Trump’s declaration that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire”. Instead, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov firmly rejected Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal of a 60-day halt to attacks.
Trump maintained, “They agreed. Do you know why? Because I said they agreed. That’s why. They agreed because I said they agreed. And that thing has to get settled.”
On Monday night, Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv murdered three civilians and injuring at least eight.
The Russians used 10 Banderol-type missiles, targeting civilian infrastructure. They destroyed a section of a four-story residential building and damaged at least 10 nearby private houses.
Earlier in the day, Russia murdered at least eight civilians and injured at least nine. In Kyiv, an evening strike on a 25-story residential block killed two people.
