The diesel deal between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked severe outrage in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he felt betrayed.
President Zelenskyy made these remarks during an interview with renowned host Piers Morgan on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. "Of course, I feel betrayed," Zelenskyy replied when asked by Piers Morgan whether he felt betrayed by the Donald Trump administration. According to Zelenskyy, the oil agreement is a victory for the Kremlin, and it is a truly sad matter that Ukraine is losing a strong partner.
Nevertheless, President Zelenskyy insisted that Ukraine still relies on its partnership with the United States and urged the American company Starlink to allow Ukraine full access to its satellite system after Kyiv reported a drop in internet speeds. According to the US media outlet Axios, Trump’s decision to pave the way for Russia to supply diesel to the global market comes in response to Kyiv’s failure to comply with Washington’s demands to stop attacks on oil refineries inside Russia, at a time when Trump is attempting to lower oil prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November.
In a war of words with Zelenskyy, Trump also called on Ukraine to elect a new president who is willing to end the war with Russia. The announcement of the diesel deal comes amid ongoing negotiations between Ukrainian, US, and European officials in Miami.
* From the Oval Office to Miami
This is not the first time that Kyiv and Washington have fallen into a diplomatic crisis during Trump’s second term. In February 2025, Trump told Zelenskyy in the White House Oval Office that the Ukrainian leader held no cards in his hand. That confrontation led to a temporary suspension of US weapons supplies and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. Once again, US media reported that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner threatened to suspend intelligence sharing during negotiations in Miami, citing Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries as the reason. However, US officials have denied these reports.
Mykhailo Honchar, an expert from the Ukrainian Center for Global Studies Strategy XXI, noted that the current tense situation is reminiscent of what occurred at the White House in February 2025 and that Ukraine has no reason to be overly concerned. He added that last year, there were similar threats, suspensions of intelligence sharing, and disruptions to arms supplies. Yet ultimately, the United States realized that these suspensions were also costly to itself and reluctantly restored everything back to normal.
* Is Trump Looking for a Scapegoat?
Experts, including Mykhailo Honchar, see a clear connection between Trump's intimidation of Ukraine and the US midterm elections set for November 3. In the midterm elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, along with one-third or 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate, are up for contest between political parties, particularly the two major parties: the Republicans and the Democrats.
Ivan Us from the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv predicted that the Republican Party will suffer a defeat in the midterm elections, with the primary reason being rising fuel prices. "Donald Trump is trying to divert the American public's attention away from the reality that energy prices are rising due to his war with Iran and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, he needs someone else to take the blame, and he decided that the most suitable target is Ukraine," noted Ivan Us.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that rising oil prices are not caused by the Iran war, but rather because Ukraine continues to attack Russian oil refineries. For Mykhailo Honchar, Russia stands out as the biggest winner from Trump's diesel agreement with Putin.
The expert further highlighted:
"The entire diesel deal looks like a cover for a request from Putin to Trump to exert pressure or influence over Ukraine." Honchar also linked this diesel agreement to the potential sale of overseas assets belonging to the Russian oil company Lukoil. According to the New York Times, potential buyers of these assets include investors connected to Trump.
It is worth noting that, according to experts, Ukraine should remain patient until after the US midterm elections on November 3. Oleksandr Kraiev from the Ukrainian Prism research institute stated that he personally believes Trump will back down from the tension with Ukraine, because abandoning Ukraine would be equivalent to demonstrating weakness to China.
