Trump accuses Europe of hypocrisy after diesel deal with Russia

President Donald Trump has accused Europe of hypocrisy after facing backlashing for lifting sanctions against Russia for diesel exports.

The US leader announced a deal with president Vladimir Putin on Friday, allowing Moscow to supply diesel to global markets. He said the US would import 300,000 tons of the fuel as energy prices soar.

However, he faced criticism from European leaders with the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas reminding Washington that “Russia has started this war. We should not forget this.”

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he did not believe that the deliveries would have an impact and suggested that “there are different rationales behind this decision”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump hit out: “The European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy, and the Fake News Media doesn’t want to get near that story. I made the right choice for the American People — Always, America First!”

While the EU has “significantly reduced dependencies and energy imports from Russia” according to the European Commission, it continues to purchase energy from Moscow.

According to a tracker led by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the European Union has paid approximately €238.6 billion to Russia for fossil fuels since 24 February 2022.

According to their data, China and the EU remained the biggest importers of fossil fuel from Russia overall, but graphs also show a steep decline in EU imports since 2023.

Trump’s deal came amid a short-lived energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which was broken after further Russian strikes on a power plant in the Kharkiv region, according to Zelensky.

Despite the attacks Trump has insisted that the two sides agreed to an energy ceasefire, telling reporters outside the White House: “I said, ‘You agree.’ That’s why they agreed”.

Asked about the ongoing attacks he said there had been “violations on both sides”.

Zelensky said Kyiv had not been informed beforehand of the announcement, saying: “No, we did not know about that. We’ve learned that from the media as well.”

The Ukrainian leader suggested that the US should consider an arrangement with Kyiv, saying: “Why doesn’t America then conclude a diesel deal with Ukraine? Let’s propose a diesel deal with Ukraine.”

Others have also criticised the diesel deal with Irish foreign minister Helen McEntee calling the reports “concerning”.

Lithuanian foreign minister Kestutis Budrys said that the agreement was “not the European way”.

At a gathering of EU ministers on Monday, he said: “This deal doesn’t help neither the price of oil products nor the unity of the transatlantic community.”