The Kremlin has ruled out this Monday "a direct connection" between the recent agreement with the United States for the supply of Russian diesel and the talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire and a possible peace agreement in Ukraine. The Russian Presidency has emphasized that the understanding with Washington, made public on Friday, is "mutually beneficial" for both powers and for "global energy markets."
"I see no direct connection," said Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov, who insisted that the pact announced by Trump "is a very mutually beneficial aspect of Russian-American cooperation," as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
According to Peskov, the agreement "meets the interests of the United States, those of global energy markets, and those of Russia. That is why it is taking place," he stressed, while assuring that contacts "are ongoing" regarding a possible ceasefire in Ukraine concerning attacks on energy infrastructure, an aspect also recently advanced by the occupant of the White House.
Trump made public on Friday an agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for Moscow to supply "immediately" more than 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the U.S. and global market, with the additional forecast of sending "another 500,000 tons during the month of November and 1,000,000 tons immediately afterward."
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lashed out at this understanding and stated that it constitutes a "gift" that would allow Russia to finance the war that began in February 2022, when Putin signed the order to invade the neighboring country. To date, various attempts at international mediation have not succeeded in crystallizing into a peace agreement that ends the hostilities.