U.S. move on Russian diesel shows weakness to Putin, Ukraine's FM Sybiha says

Filed 1h ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

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Meanwhile in Bavaria

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: World Travel & Tourism Council · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Oct. 9 that the U.S. decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel will be read by Vladimir Putin as weakness rather than as a path to peace or lower fuel prices. Sybiha argued that only an energy truce between Kyiv and Moscow could meaningfully affect global prices, and said Ukraine is ready for one if Russia can be pressured into it.

The comments follow President Trump's announcement after a call with Putin that the two countries agreed on diesel shipments to the U.S. and global markets, framed as a price-lowering move. The U.S. Treasury has since issued a license permitting Russian diesel transactions through April 2027. President Zelenskyy separately called the decision weak, saying it undercut Ukraine's negotiating team then present in Washington.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A sanctions waiver timed to a phone call and dressed up as a favor to drivers at the pump is not exactly subtle diplomacy. When the people doing the fighting say it looks like weakness, it is worth asking who exactly this deal was built to please. Lower diesel prices are a fine goal, but so is not handing your adversary a propaganda victory mid-negotiation.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: Meanwhile in Bavaria · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0