A Ukrainian delegation met with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Florida on Friday. The US side described the meeting as productive and said they had identified several issues “ahead of the next US meeting with Russia.”
Before the meeting, Ukraine had urged the US to stop favoring Russia economically, arguing that this would make Russia more inclined to end its war of aggression. While the meeting in Florida was taking place, President Donald Trump announced a new business deal with Vladimir Putin to bring Russian fuel to market.
"I believe that our delegation is being used only as a smokescreen. And that is really not fair," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement issued through the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.
Relatively small proportion
"I want to thank President Putin," Donald Trump said after announcing the agreement, which in practice means exemptions from sanctions on Russian diesel for the next six months.
Trump described it as "huge amounts of oil" heading to the United States, but the amount he cited is very small in this context.
Russia is said to be making “300,000 tons” of diesel available as a first step, equivalent to just over two million barrels. That is roughly what the US burns in half a day. Globally, around 30 million barrels of diesel are burned every day.
Russia is also suffering from shortages. Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries have led to a ban on diesel exports for some time.
The US war against Iran has had enormous consequences for the global fuel market, as Iran has retaliated by choking off the large flow of oil from the Persian Gulf.
Donald Trump has since appealed to Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil, citing US gasoline prices ahead of the midterm elections this fall. But the attacks have continued, and a source told Axios that this is why Trump decided to meet with Putin.
“Cleans up after itself”
Trump's deal with Putin is also causing an outcry in the US Congress. The president signed a new, comprehensive sanctions package against Russia just three weeks ago, after it was passed by Congress with overwhelming support.
The president is betraying Ukraine and America's allies to try to clean up a mess he himself caused by starting a war against Iran, leading Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said.
Over the past week, attacks on Russia's oil sector have continued. An oil terminal in Rostov was reportedly set on fire in a drone attack overnight on Saturday.
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