Donald Trump made Russian diesel deal with Vladimir Putin after row with Volodymyr Zelensky

Donald Trump struck a shock diesel deal with Vladimir Putin after Volodymyr Zelensky defied his request to stop striking Russia’s oil refineries.

On Friday, the US leader announced that Moscow had agreed to supply “immediately more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel” amid record-high prices for the product.

He also said Washington would lift sanctions on Russian diesel to help make another 1.5 million tonnes available by year-end.

The move signalled the relaxation of the Kremlin’s export ban on diesel, which it implemented amid intensifying Ukrainian missile and drone strikes on its energy sector.

Kyiv’s successful campaign sent diesel prices soaring, further intensified by the US war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

On the day President Trump made the announcement, a gallon of diesel cost £4.74, up from £2.78 12 months earlier.

As the US midterm elections approach, the US leader is under increasing pressure to bring domestic diesel prices under control.

“Mr Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” he said on a visit to Ireland last month.

“Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel fuel,” he warned.

As Ukrainian strikes continued despite his warning, the US decided it would ink a deal with the Kremlin.

“Zelensky is misreading the room,” a US official told Axios.

“By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the goodwill that he has built with Trump over the last six months.”

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President Zelensky blasted the move, branding it a “gift” to Russia and accusing Washington of demonstrating “weakness.”

“I believe our team is simply being used as a cover. It is certainly not how partners should treat one another.

“And in my view, this is a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners. Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world.”

He said that Russia had "expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings".

He was referring to a brutal overnight bombing raid launched by Moscow that struck cities across Ukraine.

In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, five glide bombs slammed into housing blocks, leaving 15 dead, three of them children.

“In Russia, they take any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities," President Zelensky warned, adding that “Different signals are needed”.

The Ukrainian President argued that without a binding de-escalation agreement, relaxing sanctions simply empowered Moscow to “kill more” and “wage war for longer”.

“It’s really a gloves-off moment,” Dan Marks, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told GB News.

“Neither Russia nor Ukraine can defend themselves effectively and there's a possibility that they will both go for broke and really start to pummel each other,” he predicted.