Zelenskyy: I feel "betrayed" by Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, Ukraine is losing strong partner
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that he feels "betrayed" by Donald Trump’s announcement of a diesel deal with dictator Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s ongoing terror. He also suggested that Ukraine is "losing a strong partner".
He said this in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Censor.NET reports.
"We are losing a strong partner"
Morgan asked whether Zelenskyy believed Ukraine was losing America. The president answered in the affirmative but stressed that Kyiv was not to blame.
"It is a pity that we are losing a strong partner. Yes, but not because of us. We cannot be weak, because otherwise we will not survive. Our country is not for sale," he added.
The journalist noted that massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were continuing and asked whether Zelenskyy felt betrayed.
"Actually, yes. But this is a little more complicated than my emotions or my feelings. It does not depend on me. I mean that our country has to survive," the president replied.
Commenting on Trump’s demands for concessions to Putin, he also stressed:
"We are not selling our country. For us, this is not a matter of business, because these are our lives, our country, our home and our children, and this is very important to us. That is why it hurts."
On Trump’s advisers
Separately, Zelenskyy said he believed Trump’s advisers were mistaken, apparently referring to US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
"If you are in the middle, you have to stay in the middle, not on the wrong side. I think Trump’s advisers are mistaken. I do not know who is pushing him towards the wrong side. This is not the right side of history," the president said.
US–Russia diesel deal and threats against Ukraine
- On October 9, US President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Russian dictator Putin and reached an agreement on Russian diesel supplies to US and global markets.
- According to him, Russia would "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to US and global markets, another 500,000 tonnes during November, and a further one million tonnes "immediately after that."
- The US Treasury Department announced that, at Trump’s direction, the Office of Foreign Assets Control was immediately issuing a temporary general license authorizing Russian diesel supplies to the global market.
- In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called permission for Russia to sell petroleum products an "investment in war" and urged the US to hold firm talks with Moscow and impose sanctions under Lindsey Graham’s legislation.
- Axios reported that, during talks in Miami, US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had allegedly warned the Ukrainian side that access to US intelligence could be cut off if Ukraine continued striking Russian oil refineries.
- On October 11, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be ready to halt strikes on Russian refineries if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
- That same day, US President Donald Trump announced the start of an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.
- In comments to Axios, Zelenskyy said US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the start of an "energy truce" had come as a surprise to the Ukrainian side.
- The president later said Ukraine was ready to refrain from striking Russia’s energy sector provided Russia took similar steps.
