Trump decided to lift sanctions on Russian diesel due to Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries – Axios
U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to reach an agreement with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the United States. According to Axios, this decision is linked to Ukraine’s refusal to unilaterally halt attacks on Russian oil refineries.
According to Censor.NET, Axios reports this, citing a senior U.S. official familiar with the situation.
According to an American official, the U.S. president's decision was made after Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly ignored six requests to stop the strikes on Russian oil refineries.
At the same time, according to the publication’s source, the Ukrainian president told Donald Trump and his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, that Ukraine was ready to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries provided that Russia stopped striking Ukrainian power plants.
However, Trump insisted on a unilateral halt to Ukrainian attacks. According to a U.S. official, the U.S. president did not consider strikes on Russian oil refineries to be equivalent to Russian shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
"Attacks on oil refineries are hurting Russia, but they're also hitting the U.S. hard," the official said.
He also accused Zelenskyy of claiming that continuing the strikes on Russian oil refineries is allegedly damaging relations with Washington.
"Zelenskyy is misjudging the situation. By continuing to strike oil refineries, he is undermining the rapport he has built with Trump over the past six months," said the U.S. official.
The U.S. may lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports
According to Axios, during eight hours of talks in Miami, Trump’s representatives told the Ukrainian delegation that the U.S. president plans to speak with Putin and lift sanctions restricting the export of Russian diesel fuel.
A Ukrainian official told the publication that during the negotiations, Witkoff and Kushner allegedly threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to U.S. intelligence if it continued to attack Russian oil refineries.
An American official denied that such threats had been made. He emphasized that the United States remains a reliable partner of Ukraine, providing it with ammunition and intelligence.
Washington is considering energy agreements with Russia
According to Axios, Witkoff and Kushner also briefed the Ukrainian delegation and European representatives on potential energy agreements with Russia.
Washington hopes that such agreements might prompt Moscow to make concessions as part of negotiations to end the war.
"Putin is launching powerful strikes against Ukraine, but we believe he is open to discussions about ending the war. We want to develop a new proposal that will be acceptable enough to him to get him to stop," said the U.S. official.
According to the publication, the Trump administration is therefore considering potential energy agreements with Moscow as one of the tools for exerting influence on the Kremlin during the negotiations. At the same time, the details provided are based on statements from Axios’s sources, and some of the claims made by the U.S. and Ukrainian sides regarding the course of the negotiations contradict one another.
