"Ukraine is being used as smokescreen," - Zelenskyy on agreement between Trump and Putin

The leaders of the US and Russia have agreed to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel, whilst the Ukrainian negotiating team has arrived in Florida for talks on ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Donald Trump’s statement is neither honest nor in the spirit of partnership.

He made this statement in comments to journalists, according to Censor.NET.

Zelenskyy criticised

He stated that this would provide Moscow with additional funds to continue the war against Ukraine.

"I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is certainly not fair; it is certainly not the way partners behave. And, in my view, it is a weak decision by strong partners," Zelenskyy believes.

According to the president, the Ukrainian negotiating team is in Florida, where it has been holding talks with the American side for two days regarding "ending the war or at least a ceasefire". He cited an energy truce as one of the possible first steps.

At the same time, as Zelenskyy noted, it was during these talks that US President Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin and agreed on the possibility of exporting Russian diesel fuel.

"This is extra money for this war. It is extra money for this suffering inflicted upon us, without a doubt. It only fuels Putin and enables him to wage even more war," Zelenskyy stated.

Prior to this, Zelenskyy had also commented on the agreement betweenPutin and Trump on social media. "Gifts to Putin will not bring about peace or any benefit to the civilised world. Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and despicable acts."

What led up to this?

On 9 October, US President Donald Trump stated that he had spoken with Russian dictator Putin, with whom he had agreed on the supply of diesel fuel from Russia to US and global markets.
According to him, Russia will "immediately" supply over 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and global markets, a further 500,000 tonnes during November, and another million tonnes "immediately afterwards".
The US Treasury Department announced that, on Trump’s instructions, the Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general licence to permit the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the global market.
It should be recalled that, against the backdrop of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, the Russian authorities have repeatedly extended the ban on diesel fuel exports until at least the end of October.
The US President has publicly stated that Ukraine must cease its strikes on the Russian energy sector, as this, he claims, is leading to a diesel fuel shortage. According to him, the shortage has arisen precisely because of the war in Ukraine, and not because of the US war against Iran.
Similar statements have been made by other US politicians. For instance, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Ukrainian strikes on the Russian energy sector were causing an energy crisis. He cited the war with Iran as the second cause of the crisis.