US President Donald Trump has decided to strike a deal with Russia on diesel fuel supplies after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored half a dozen US requests to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries. The news was reported by Axios, citing a US official directly familiar with the situation.
The Axios source said that "Trump wanted Ukraine to unilaterally stop attacks on Russian refineries because these strikes contribute to rising gasoline prices in the US."
"After Ukraine ignored repeated US requests to stop strikes on Russian refineries, Trump decided to move forward," the publication notes.
According to Axios sources, during talks held the previous day with Ukraine, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also threatened to cut off intelligence sharing with the Ukrainian side if Kyiv did not heed Trump's requests.
The day before, Trump said he had a successful conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they discussed supplies of diesel fuel from Russia to US and international markets.
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on Trump's instructions, issued a temporary general license permitting supplies of Russian diesel fuel to the global market.
The OFAC document temporarily authorizes transactions related to the sale, delivery, unloading and import of diesel fuel of Russian origin, including imports into the US, until April 7, 2027.
