“It felt like a trap”: how Ukraine was blindsided by Trump’s turn on Russian diesel, and the threat to cut intelligence

Ukraine’s delegation went to the United States to discuss an energy ceasefire with Russia and found itself facing a decision it did not expect. According to a Kyiv Independent report based on conversations with several Ukrainian officials, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told the delegation on October 9 that Donald Trump was preparing to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports.

“It was not just our delegation there, but a European one as well. It’s just that everyone was sitting there like fools,” a senior Ukrainian official said. The talks, scheduled for October 9 and 10, covered an energy ceasefire and a separate arrangement for the Black Sea. According to the officials, Kyiv did not know the details before the announcement.

The April 7 deadline

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “immediately” issued a temporary general license for the sale of Russian diesel on the global market, as covered in our earlier report. A Ukrainian official pointed to its expiry date, April 7 (2027), as a sign that the measure had been designed to a timetable: “They lifted the sanctions until April 7… So they were preparing this for Oct. 7. It’s a birthday present for Putin. They’re counting the six months.”

Trump had been pressing since September 13: “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.” Kyiv replies that any energy ceasefire must apply to both sides, since Russia systematically hits Ukrainian power plants and substations. In the days before the decision, Ukraine had struck a plant making fuel for Kh-101 missiles in Tver.

A threat over intelligence

According to a person present at the talks, the Ukrainians were told that Washington would cut off the intelligence sharing that helps Kyiv identify and strike targets inside Russia. The American negotiators, the officials said, presented Zelensky as responsible for the impasse. Another senior official said Ukraine had not agreed to stop striking refineries and would not do so without reciprocity.

A few hours after Trump’s announcement, Ukrainian drones hit an oil-product loading terminal in Rostov-on-Don, which handles exports and supplies fuel to the Russian military. Russia, for its part, launched drones and missiles at Kyiv on October 10, again hitting energy infrastructure. Neither side has committed to stopping strikes on energy.

“A smokescreen”

Zelensky, in a voice message to reporters late on October 9, said the decision “only fuels Putin and enables him to wage more war”. “I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. This is certainly not honest, and it is certainly not how partners should act,” he said, calling it “a weak decision by our strong partners”.

The development undercuts the effort that began when Kyiv sent a delegation to the United States for an energy ceasefire, with Moscow asking for sanctions relief from the start.