Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the agreement between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the supply of Russian diesel to world markets. According to Zelensky, the deal will bring additional revenues to Moscow, which can be used to finance the war against Ukraine.
“Now we see how the funds will start to return to Russia through the diesel deal“, Zelensky told journalists on the sidelines of the EU leaders' summit in Brussels.
The Ukrainian president added that the deal would not be enough to offset the consequences for world markets of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, he said it would provide funds "directly into Putin's pocket" to finance the war.
Dispute over energy infrastructure attacks
Trump announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to attack each other's energy facilities. The US president linked the rise in energy prices to Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, also pointing to the upcoming US midterm elections in November.
Meanwhile, Ukraine attacked a Russian oil refinery after Zelensky said that Kiev was abandoning the energy truce announced by Trump. The US president accused the Ukrainian head of state of raising world oil prices by his actions.
„All he does is raise world oil prices. "I think it's a disgrace," Trump told Newsmax.The Russian diesel deal has angered Ukraine and its European allies. Kiev objects to the possibility that energy export revenues could support Russia's military operations while Moscow continues its attacks on Ukrainian targets.
Problems with Starshield
Zelensky also said that the Starshield satellite system of the American company SpaceX has not yet been fully restored. The system is used for military operations, and the outages also make it difficult to counter Russian drones that attack Ukrainian cities far from the front line.
According to the Ukrainian president, Europe does not have a ready-made alternative to the Starlink system. This leaves Kiev dependent on American satellite infrastructure at a time of heightened dispute with Washington over the terms of the energy truce and supplies of Russian diesel.
Sources: bta.bg