The remarks followed Trump’s diesel agreement with Vladimir Putin on Friday and a Ukrainian drone strike that set a fuel export terminal in Rostov-on-Don ablaze hours later. Zelensky criticized the sanctions relief as “not fair and not honest” and offered a reciprocal halt to energy attacks: “Ukraine will not set Russian oil refineries on fire if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure.” A senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that Kyiv would continue its strikes.
During Friday’s Miami talks, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the possibility of cutting US intelligence sharing unless Ukraine halted refinery attacks, the Financial Times reported. A US official denied to Axios that such a threat was made. Treasury’s license authorizes Russian diesel transactions, including US imports, through April 7, 2027. Trump announced supplies of more than 300,000 metric tons immediately, 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons thereafter, with another 3 million tons dependent on refinery conditions.