Russian President Vladimir Putin with Donald Trump, Helsinki, July 16, 2018
Friday’s Coverage: 33 Murdered In Russia’s Strike on Minibuses in Kramatorsk
UPDATE 0716 GMT:
A “US official with direct knowledge” says Donald Trump pursued a diesel fuel deal with Vladimir Putin because Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored six requests to stop attacking Russian oil refineries.
A Ukrainian official said that, during eight hours of talks in Miami, Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner threatened a cutoff of US intelligence sharing if Zelensky continued to ignore the requests.
The US official denied the threat was made.
UPDATE 0709 GMT:
The toll has risen to seven civilians murdered, including three children, and 10 injured from Russia’s overnight strike on residential areas in Zaporizhzhia city in southern Ukraine.
The fate of 14 people is unknown.
UPDATE 0645 GMT:
Ukraine’s drones reportedly set a large fire at an oil-loading terminal in Rostov-on-Don in western Russia overnight.
Video from local residents showed a blaze and thick smoke at the Yug Rusi terminal. It handles petroleum products for export, including shipments from the Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery.
Drones damaged a second Yandex data center in two nights in Russia’s Kaluga region on Friday, disabling several modules at the facility.
UPDATE 0634 GMT:
Four civilians were murdered and four injured by a Russian strike on a five-story residential building in Zaporizhzhia city on Saturday.
Guided aerial bombs partially destroyed an entrance to the apartment block and collapsed sections of the structure. Rescue workers pulled a man and a woman from the rubble.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Undermining Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s full-scale invasion, including US sanctions on Moscow, Donald Trump has declared a deal to buy diesel fuel from Vladimir Putin.
After a phone call with Putin on Friday, Trump posted:
I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter.
Trump tipped off his concern: rising diesel prices caused by his War on Iran and Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, just before November’s mid-term elections. “Diesel prices for Americans and, indeed, the world, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST! Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my greatest priority,” he asserted.
The cost of diesel in the US reached a record $6.52 per gallon last month, more than double the cost a year ago.
The US Treasury said that, following Trump’s direction, “the Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general license to allow the supply of Russian diesel to the global market”.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said of Trump’s declaration, “It is certainly not honest, it is certainly unworthy of our partners, and it is, in my view, a weak decision.” He chided, “You know, it looks like a happy birthday present for Putin,” who turned 74 earlier this week as Russia maintained its airstrikes on Ukraine’s civilians and energy infrastructure.
Russia banned exports of diesel fuel this spring because of its fuel crisis caused by Ukraine’s strikes on refineries.
The Russians have also been restricted by international sanctions on sales of oil carried at sea. Last month, the US Congress toughened those sanctions by requiring a 100% tariff on the top five countries purchasing Moscow’s exports. Trump signed the bill but has yet to implement it.
Trump declined to comment about Zelensky’s remarks, saying he was happy about the deal.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow is ready to start supplying diesel to the US and other countries in October, with exports increasing in November and December.
Foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump and Putin spoke about the resumption of negotiations. However, Ushakov emphasized:
By attempting to disrupt our elections [on 18-20 September] by launching a massive drone strike on Moscow, other cities, and polling stations on the main voting day, targeting specific individuals associated with the election organization, the Kyiv regime has essentially thwarted the possibility of immediately resuming the negotiation process.
Ukraine Meets With Trump Envoys in Florida
Trump’s announcement came as his envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were in two days of talks with senior Ukrainian and European officials in Miami.
Witkoff and Kushner have recently been in discussions with the Kremlin about the sale of the $22 billion overseas assets of Lukoil, Russia’s energy giant, to individuals with whom the envoys are linked.
Putin also offered the two men a joint project to rebuild the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany.
Zelensky said that Witkoff and Kushner did not suggest that a diesel deal with Russia was on the table. An hour before Trump’s statement, the Ukrainian officials in Miami told thim that Trump planned to speak with Putin and that an announcement regarding US sanctions on Russia might be forthcoming.
The President repeated that he would support easing sanctions on Moscow in the context of a deal to halt attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine and Russia during the winter.
However, he noted, “What did [Trump] get? That he will have more diesel? For whom? More Russian diesel for Americans? It shows weakness of the world.”
He linked the development to a possible journey by Witkoff and Kushner to the Kremlin:
If you allow them to export diesel, and you think before that you have to go to Russia to negotiate, it looks that you are buying this meeting.
Maybe I’m not right. But it looks this way. Otherwise, why do it?
