Russia launched deadly attacks on civilians in Ukraine as “thank you” for a deal struck by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to buy large quantities of Russian diesel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, accusing Washington of helping finance Moscow’s war. The Ukrainian president has repeatedly expressed outrage over the deal announced by Trump on Friday, which the US president said was necessary to reduce diesel prices, and comes ahead of November midterm elections in which fuel costs are a key issue for voters. The deal, which appeared to take kyiv by surprise As announced while Ukrainian negotiators were in Miami for peace talks, Zelenskyy described it as a “gift” to Russia’s president. He said Russia would use the money it raised from fuel sales to invest in its war and that “any easing of sanctions” would favor Russia, “allowing it to kill more and wage war longer.” He had killed 15 people, including three children. Rescuers were working at the site of an apartment building damaged by a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Reuters “Today, Russia expressed its gratitude for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five slide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskyy said on social media on Saturday. “Last night they confirmed once again that in Russia any relief of pressure means that they can keep fighting, that they can keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed,” he said. There were also “large-scale power outages” in the capital, kyiv, the In stark contrast to Zelenskyy’s open frustration with Trump, a Kremlin readout of Friday’s call between the US president and Putin was glowing, with the Russian news agency Interfax quoting an aide as saying it was “very substantial and friendly.” “None of them wanted to be the first to hang,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said of the two leaders. “They hung up simultaneously, literally at the same time.” Zelenskyy has previously said that Putin is toying with Trump. The diesel deal breaks four years of Western financial pressure on Moscow and leaves kyiv’s allies in Europe and NATO struggling to adapt their sanctions plan. The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the diesel deal “provides Moscow with more revenue to wage war.” “This is not the time to relieve pressure on Russia, and Europe will not do so,” he said on Saturday. “On Monday, EU foreign ministers intend to approve the largest set of sanctions lists against Russia’s war machine since the start of the war.” He was referring to plans to formally add 1,600 new people and entities to the EU sanctions blacklist. Kaja Kallas with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit in Copenhagen last year. Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters Major European governments have tried to balance their diplomatic and trade relations with a mercurial Trump and his support for Ukraine. German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said Berlin “remains committed to the sanctions imposed on Russia and is working with its European partners to impose further sanctions,” adding that support for Ukraine “remains unwavering.” “a vital source of financing Russia’s war of aggression.” Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russia “must feel its losses” and has vowed to respond. In the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, Ukrainian attacks in the past 24 hours have killed four civilians and wounded five, the region’s Russian-installed governor Leonid Pasechnik said Saturday. key point of contention between Zelenskyy and Trump, who has tried to stop Ukraine from bombing Russian refineries, which he says exacerbates the global diesel shortage. The Ukrainian leader has rejected such requests unless Russia stops attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The Financial Times reported that during talks in Miami, Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, raised the possibility that US intelligence sharing could be disrupted if kyiv did not stop the attacks.
