Zelensky smashes Russian oil hub after labelling Trump-Putin deal ‘weak’ and ‘unworthy’

Response: Ukraine hit a Russian oil facility after the deal between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was revealed (REUTERS) Ukraine has responded to Donald Trump’s deal to lift sanctions on Russian diesel by hammering Vladimir Putin’s oil infrastructure in a series of massive strikes overnight.

The US president is said to have ‘blindsided’ Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky by announcing an agreement to buy almost two million tons of Russian oil.

Ukraine reacted to the deal, which it fears could fund Russia’s war effort with more than £3billion, by hitting the Yug Rusi oil-loading terminal in Rostov-on-Don with a massive drone strike.

An enormous blaze was also photographed at the nearby Novoshakhtinsk oil terminal.

Two tankers in the Sea of Azov were also attacked, while a railway bridge used for transporting oil from Rostov-on-Don was damaged, with traffic halted.

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Mr Trump’s deal to lift sanctions on buying Russian diesel came about as a result of Ukraine ignoring US requests to stop striking Moscow’s oil refineries, Axios reported. The tactic has contributed to soaring prices worldwide.

The outlet quoted a US official saying: ‘Zelensky is misreading the room. By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the good will that he has built with Trump over the last six months.’

Overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine killed at least seven civilians and Mr Zelensky branded the Trump-Putin deal ‘weak’ and ‘unworthy’.

He said: ‘Russia is weaker on the front lines than at any other time during the war. That is why Putin relies on terror.

‘That is why he relies on attempts to reach backroom deals for one concession or another, to buy more time and opportunities for the war.

‘Any weakening of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious sign of weakness.’

Polls suggest Mr Trump is facing disaster in midterm elections next month, with US voters furious at soaring prices caused by his war with Iran.

Diesel prices have hit record levels, hammering struggling US haulage and agricultural companies.

Mr Trump posted that the Russian deal will see 300,000 tons of diesel released immediately ‘to the American and global marketplace’, followed by 500,000 tons in November and another million after that.

The move has been criticised by allies, while experts have questioned whether the quantities involved will make a difference to prices in America.

The US consumes more than three million tonnes of diesel a day, more than the entire quantity it has agreed to let Moscow sell.

Ukrainian former vice PM Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze compared the Trump-Putin deal to funding Al–Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

‘If we asked every single American would they be fine if Donald Trump was buying, say if it was available, diesel from Osama Bin Laden and they were fine with this then something is profoundly wrong with the United States of America,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

‘It is an unacceptable and totally painful move on the part of the American president and it also goes against the interests of the US itself and the European community.’

A UK government spokesman said it would continue ‘to maintain pressure on Russia through the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed by the UK, increasing the cost of Putin’s aggression and supporting efforts to secure a just and lasting peace’.

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