Trump says diesel deal aimed to keep talks with Russia going

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said he cut a diesel export deal with Russia and delayed imposing further sanctions because he does not want to drive Vladimir Putin away from peace talks with Ukraine.

At the same time, Trump also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, because of the military aid he has gotten from European allies.

“I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table. Great progress is being made,” he wrote in a social media post.

Trump has for months sought to shift blame for high energy prices away from the US war on Iran, which slowed oil shipments out of the Strait of Hormuz, causing world energy prices to spike.

Instead, he has blamed Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

“He doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” Trump wrote of Zelenskyy.

“He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END!”

Zelenskyy, in an interview Sunday (Oct 18) with Bloomberg News, in turn accused Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, escalating a week-long argument between the two leaders.

The Ukrainian leader on Sunday spoke with Trump negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner amid a push to restart peace talks, which are stalled.

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Zelenskyy also has accused the US of deliberately limiting its Starlink and Starshield systems, which help it intercept incoming Russian drones and allow it to find safe passages to deliver food and supplies to troops.

The White House has denied any involvement in the temporary shutdown.

Trump waived new tariffs and sanctions on Russia on Friday, just a week after cutting a deal with the Russian leader on diesel exports that he said was aimed at lowering high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, in which the cost of living is voters’ dominant concern.

At least 10 Republican senators, as well as House members, have spoken out against both deals in an unusual pushback against Trump as Republicans face a growing possibility that they will lose their majorities in Congress after the midterm elections on Nov 3. BLOOMBERG