Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Washington on Friday evening, Oct. 9, of rewarding Moscow, hours after President Trump said Putin had agreed to ship diesel to American and world buyers and the Treasury eased sanctions to let it flow. He told journalists the move was, in the Kyiv Post’s rendering, “a weak decision by strong partners,” and that his own negotiators, then meeting Trump’s envoys in Florida, were being used as cover.
Where it stands: The Zelensky diesel deal dispute has since widened into an open quarrel between Kyiv and the White House. Trump hit back on Saturday by urging Ukrainians to replace their president. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Kyiv was still receiving U.S. intelligence, after a Financial Times report, relayed by Reuters, said Washington had threatened to cut it off. That report has not been confirmed by any U.S. official.
What follows is the record from Kyiv’s side: what Zelensky and Ukrainian lawmakers said, what Trump said back, and why Russian refineries sit at the center of the argument. For the terms of the license and the tonnages Trump announced, see our rundown of what Washington and Moscow actually agreed.
Zelensky diesel deal remarks: what he said on Oct. 9
Zelensky spoke on the evening of Friday, Oct. 9, as his delegation was in talks in Florida with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. According to the Kyiv Post, he asked how the United States could credibly mediate while handing Vladimir Putin sudden economic relief.
He tied the timing directly to the talks. “At this very moment, while our team is talking with the American team in Florida, the president of the United States is having a conversation with the Kremlin leader,” he said, per the Kyiv Post. The Associated Press quoted a sharper line: “I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen.”
The phrase most outlets led with came out differently depending on who translated it. Readers comparing coverage will see three versions, all of the same remarks:
| Outlet | How it rendered the line |
|---|---|
| AP, citing a Ukrainian Embassy statement | “a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners” |
| Kyiv Post | “And it is a weak decision. Unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners.” |
| Interfax-Ukraine | “a weak decision by strong partners.” |
The wording varies; the charge does not. In each version Zelensky casts the United States as the stronger party choosing the weaker course.
Kyiv’s core argument: “additional money for this war”
Zelensky’s objection was about money first. “This is additional money, additional money for this war against us, without question,” he said, according to the Kyiv Post. “It only fuels Putin and gives him the opportunity to wage even more war.”
He did not put a figure on it. “I don’t know whether we’re talking about millions or billions,” he said, adding that all of it would go toward the war. In a lengthy online post quoted by AP, he predicted Russia would answer the gesture “with further terror and perfidy” and described the deal as an investment in prolonging the war. Our companion piece looks at how much Russian fuel exports actually earn Moscow.
By Saturday he was pointing at a specific attack. “Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” he wrote on X, according to AFP. On Facebook he said the deal had to be reversed, arguing that Moscow had read it as permission to keep attacking: “This needs to be corrected.”
Trump’s reply: “time for Ukraine to get a new president”
Trump’s answer centered on Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian refineries, which he had already said were ‘hurting the world’ by keeping fuel tight, as CNBC reported on Oct. 5.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Oct. 10, he said, per the Kyiv Post: “He wants to make problems for the world, for our farmers with diesel.” Then he went further. “Zelensky could have settled this war many, many times, but he chooses not to,” Trump said. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
AP noted that Trump has sought to pin record U.S. diesel prices on Ukraine rather than on the U.S.-led war in Iran. Zelensky pushed back along similar lines on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, saying Ukraine is an easy target for blame over fuel prices “when everybody in the world understands because of the war in (the) Middle East, the prices are rising.”
On the call for a new leader, he answered: “With all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader.” Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, and AP notes its constitution bars elections while martial law lasts. Zelensky offered a condition instead: “give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections.”
‘A betrayal’: the view from Ukraine’s parliament
The anger was not confined to the presidential office. Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign-policy committee, told NPR’s All Things Considered: “We were outraged, honestly speaking, by this so-called diesel deal between President Trump and Putin.” He said Kyiv read it as a betrayal because it did not understand what Washington was doing.
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His reasoning matches Zelensky’s. Ukraine is trying to destroy Russia’s war machine, he said, and “the only way to do it is to deprive Russia of oil revenues and its capabilities, including oil refineries.” He also warned against Ukraine being drawn into Washington’s domestic fights: “We wouldn’t like Ukraine to become a hostage to internal political struggle in the United States.”
Reported U.S. pressure over intelligence and weapons
On Sunday, Oct. 11, the Financial Times reported, citing officials in Europe, that the United States was threatening to halt PURL, the mechanism used to procure U.S. weapons for Ukraine, and to cut off intelligence sharing, unless Kyiv stopped its deep strikes on Russian energy sites. Reuters, which relayed the report, said it “could not immediately verify the report,” and the White House did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
No U.S. official has confirmed the threat on the record in any source we could find. Two days later, Reuters reported that Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was still receiving U.S. intelligence. Separately, the Kyiv Post reported that Kyiv had vowed to keep hitting refineries, attributing that to anonymous officials in Financial Times reporting.
The Kremlin’s account of the Oct. 9 Trump-Putin call adds one more detail. Putin aide Yury Ushakov said Trump agreed he “would instruct that the relevant signals be conveyed to the Ukrainian delegation” in Miami. Ushakov did not say what those signals were, and the White House has not described them.
Why refineries are at the center of the fight
Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against Russian oil plants is the reason Russian diesel was largely off the world market before this deal. Russia has banned diesel exports since July because of the strikes, AP reported, and the International Energy Agency estimates Russian diesel output has fallen by about 30%. The IEA’s September report described “a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks.”
Kyiv had just escalated. In a Reuters interview published Saturday, Oct. 3, Zelensky said Ukraine would double down on refinery strikes in response to Russian air raids on its cities. The Kyiv Post reported that those strikes had forced Russia to ration fuel and dented its oil income, and that under the latest deal, as the Kyiv Post described it, Kyiv is asked to stop hitting refineries while no matching demand is made of Moscow about Ukraine’s power grid. That imbalance is what Zelensky’s later offer was aimed at, and it echoes an earlier argument we covered on why Ukraine is criticized for strikes the U.S. carries out elsewhere.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Oct. 3 | Zelensky tells Reuters Ukraine will double down on refinery strikes |
| Oct. 9 | Diesel deal announced; Zelensky calls it a weak decision |
| Oct. 10 | Zelensky ties a Zaporizhzhia strike to the deal; Trump calls for a new president |
| Oct. 11 | FT reports U.S. threats on intelligence and PURL; Zelensky offers to halt refinery strikes if Russia stops hitting the grid |
| Oct. 13 | Sybiha says U.S. intelligence is still arriving |
Zelensky’s offer on Oct. 11 was explicit: Ukraine would stop striking Russian refineries if Moscow stopped attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Reuters reported. Trump announced an ‘energy ceasefire’ later that day; how that claim has held up is covered in our piece on Trump’s energy ceasefire claim. On Tuesday, Oct. 13, Reuters reported a first since that announcement: a day with no Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, while still striking transport and logistics with ballistic missiles and drones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Zelensky say about the Russian diesel deal?
On Oct. 9 he called it a weak decision by strong partners, said the money would fund the war against Ukraine, and said his negotiators in Florida were being used as a smokescreen. The exact wording differs between the AP, Kyiv Post and Interfax-Ukraine translations.
Why does Ukraine object to the U.S. buying Russian diesel?
Kyiv argues that any fuel revenue Russia earns goes toward its war, and that relief offered during peace talks rewards Moscow without asking anything in return. Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko told NPR the only way to stop Russia is to cut its oil revenue and refining capacity.
Did Trump say Ukraine needs a new president?
Yes. On Oct. 10 Trump told reporters that Zelensky could have settled the war many times and that Ukraine should have a different leader. Zelensky replied that choosing a leader is up to Ukrainians, and that elections could follow a 60-day ceasefire.
Did the U.S. threaten to cut intelligence to Ukraine?
The Financial Times reported such threats on Oct. 11, citing officials in Europe. Reuters could not verify the report and the White House did not comment. On Oct. 13 Ukraine’s foreign minister said Kyiv was still receiving U.S. intelligence.
Is Ukraine still striking Russian refineries?
Zelensky said on Oct. 11 that Ukraine would halt refinery strikes if Russia stopped attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Before the deal he had pledged to step the strikes up, and the FT reported Kyiv intended to keep going.
Sources
- Trump strikes deal with Putin to get diesel in sharp reversal of US policy weeks before midterms — The Associated Press (via Live 5 News), October 9, 2026
- Zelensky Slams Trump-Putin Diesel Deal as Betrayal of Ukraine Peace Talks — Kyiv Post, Oct. 10, 2026, 2:54 am
- Zelenskyy slams U.S. diesel waiver granted to Russia during Florida talks — Interfax-Ukraine, 12:55, 10.10.2026
- Zelensky blasts diesel deal after Russian strikes kill 15 civilians — AFP (via Kuwait Times), October 10, 2026
- ‘Better Damn Well Stop’ – Trump Lambasts Kyiv’s Refinery Attacks, Calls for New President in Ukraine — Kyiv Post, Oct. 10, 2026, 11:54 pm
- Russia ramps up attacks on Ukraine as U.S. pushes for peace talks — CNBC, October 5, 2026
- Ukraine’s Zelenskiy tells ABC he will organize elections if Russia agrees to 60-day ceasefire — Reuters (via The Star), Sunday, 11 Oct 2026
- Trump says Russia, Ukraine agree to an `energy ceasefire’ but Kyiv says attacks continue — The Associated Press (via CP24), Updated: October 11, 2026 at 3:47p.m. EDT
- Ukrainian MP calls U.S.-Russia diesel deal a ‘betrayal’ — NPR (All Things Considered, via Texas Public Radio), October 11, 2026
- US threatens to block arms for Ukraine over refinery attacks, FT reports — Reuters (via Internazionale), Oct 11, 2026
- Russia hits no energy targets in Ukraine for first time since Trump’s ‘truce’ — Reuters (via The Detroit News), October 13, 2026
- Russia to intensify strikes on Ukraine after Zelenskiy interview — Reuters (via The Star), Oct 4, 2026
- Oil Market Report – September 2026 — International Energy Agency, Published 11 September 2026
- Comment by Aide to the President Yury Ushakov following Vladimir Putin’s telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump — Office of the President of Russia (kremlin.ru), October 9, 2026 23:55
This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.