"We will strike Russian refineries": Ukraine responds to Trump's deal with Putin

Ukraine will continue to carry out long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, despite the agreement of US President Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin on resuming exports of Russian diesel fuel. A high-ranking Ukrainian official reported this Financial Times.

What Trump and Putin Agreed On

On October 9, Trump announced an agreement under which Russia is to supply 300 thousand tons of diesel fuel to the world market immediately, another 500 thousand tons in November, and 1 million tons shortly after that. A further 3 million tons may follow depending on the condition of Russian oil refineries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized this decision, stating that it would help Russia finance its war against Ukraine and encourage Putin.

The deal was struck a few weeks before the US midterm congressional elections, which will take place in November. Amid rising diesel prices, Trump is presumably seeking to lower them in order to reduce the discontent of American voters.

At the same time, Michelle Bruyard, head of political and geopolitical risks at the analytics company Kpler, questioned Russia's ability to deliver the promised volumes.

Trump Asked Ukraine to Stop Strikes on Refineries

According to Axios, Trump decided to reach an agreement with Putin after Zelensky ignored some six requests from Washington to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries. An American official familiar with the situation told the publication this.

According to him, Trump demanded that Ukraine unilaterally stop the strikes, as they contributed to rising fuel prices in the US. In return, Zelensky proposed stopping attacks on Russian refineries in exchange for halting Russian strikes on Ukrainian power plants. The American president did not consider these strikes equivalent.

The Ukrainian official also told Axios that during negotiations in Miami, Trump's representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner allegedly threatened to stop passing American intelligence to Ukraine if Kyiv did not heed Washington's requests. An American interlocutor of the publication denied that such a threat was made.

According to expert estimates, Russian oil refineries are operating at about 60% of capacity due to the consequences of Ukrainian strikes.

Following the Trump-Putin agreement, US-Ukraine talks in Miami on preparing a trilateral meeting involving Russia concluded ahead of schedule.