Trump-Putin diesel deal fractures West on Russia – ex-Austrian FM

US President Donald Trump's decision to lift oil sanctions against Russia and invite Russia to sell diesel to the global market has strained the US's relationship with Ukraine.

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed disappointment and frustration with the US's decision to lift oil sanctions against Russia and invite Russia to sell diesel to the global market. Zelenskyy stated that the US's decision is 'not the right side of history.'

The decision effectively reversed the Lindsey Graham Act, which gave the US President the ability to punish countries buying Russian oil with secondary sanctions. Trump's invitation to Russia to sell diesel to the global market is aimed at bringing down transport prices, but it has had the opposite effect, straining the US's relationship with Ukraine.

Ukraine's partners did not share intelligence that five ballistic missiles were headed towards Kyiv on October 13, Zelenskyy said, without naming the US. Those missiles struck Kyiv's Thermal Power Plant number 4, one of the capital's biggest, resulting in power outages.

Ukraine's electricity infrastructure was pounded by Russia on October 14, despite the fact that Trump had declared an energy ceasefire on October 11. Russia launched 850 drones and 39 missiles, striking 30 energy targets across 19 regions of Ukraine, in a 24-hour period.