- During the 15-minute interview, Zelensky appeared exasperated and dismayed and even expressed a sense of betrayal over the news of the diesel deal.
- Trump was repeatedly asked by reporters on Friday about Zelensky’s criticism, but he declined to comment and said he was happy with the deal with Putin.
Driving the news: Trump announced the deal with Putin as his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met in Miami with the Ukrainian negotiating team as well as senior diplomats from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the EU and NATO to discuss new U.S. ideas for ending the war.
- Zelensky said he spoke with Witkoff a few days ago about the need to continue efforts to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough before winter and the midterm elections.
- “Steve offered to meet in Florida. And of course, I agreed to go there and talk about possibilities for negotiations. The Americans said they had ideas and we agreed to come and discuss them,” Zelensky said.
- At no point during its talks with Witkoff and Kushner did the United States suggest that a diesel deal with Russia was on the table, Zelensky stressed.
- He said he understood from Witkoff that U.S. envoys planned to deliver messages from the Florida talks to the Russians and then possibly travel to kyiv to try to broker a peace deal.
Behind the scenes: Zelensky said that an hour before Trump’s statement, his negotiators, who were meeting with Kushner and Witkoff in Florida, informed him that Trump planned to speak with Putin. They said an announcement regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia could be forthcoming, without giving further details.
- “It’s really not honest, because we tried to build our relationships in the best way possible,” he said. “It seems that they took advantage of this opportunity to meet with us on the one hand and on the other hand they called Putin and negotiated this.”
What he says: Ukraine’s president said he would have supported easing sanctions on Russian energy if it had been done in the context of a deal to end attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine and Russia over the winter.
- “If the price is an energy ceasefire, this negotiation is good,” Zelensky said. But he argued that Trump probably would have announced such a breakthrough if Putin had agreed to it.
- “What did (Trump) get? That he will have more diesel? For whom? More Russian diesel for the Americans? This shows the weakness of the world,” Zelensky said.
- Zelensky compared the current agreement to the Anchorage summit between Trump and Putin last year, which ended with the US president accepting numerous Russian demands regarding the war in Ukraine without getting anything in return.
- “It looks like Alaska No. 2,” he said.
Between the lines: Despite his anger, Zelensky stopped short of saying the episode meant Washington could no longer mediate between kyiv and Moscow.
- “It’s not simple. We need the Americans,” he said. “We need the Americans to try to stop this war.”
- But he wonders whether rewarding Moscow without an apparent concession from Russia would make continued diplomacy more difficult.
- “This decision will not help us in any way,” Zelensky said. “But the bad thing is that I think this decision will not help the American people.”
What’s next: Zelensky said he plans to speak with his negotiating team to get a full overview of his discussions with Witkoff and Kushner.
- Zelensky said he also wanted to understand whether the diesel deal was linked to a trip Trump’s envoys planned to take to Russia.
- “If you allow them to export diesel and before that you think you have to go to Russia to negotiate, it seems like you are buying this meeting,” Zelensky said, while emphasizing that he did not know whether that was actually Trump’s intention.
- “Maybe I’m not right,” Zelensky said. “But it looks like this. Otherwise, why do this?”
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