Trump’s Russia diesel deal aids Putin’s war, Europe warns

European officials warned that President Donald Trump’s deal to increase Russia’s diesel sales will boost Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, pressing for more US sanctions instead.

“We would call on US to put the sanctions in place so that actually we could finish this war, so that all the effects of these attacks on refineries would not be there,” top European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday before meeting with the bloc’s foreign ministers.

Trump on Friday said he was working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release the country’s diesel supplies into global markets, upending years of sanctions in a bid to ease fuel prices before the US midterm elections. Trump also demanded that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy halt attacks on Russian oil refineries and suggested he should consider stepping aside as president.

Trump’s approach is unhelpful, numerous officials argued. Not only will it not lower fuel prices, it will increase Moscow’s military budget, they said.

“Every euro, every dollar which in the form of energy purchases flows into Putin’s, into Russia’s cash register will be used to produce new arms which will be used against Ukraine,” said Gunther Krichbaum, Germany’s Europe minister.

The US backtrack on Russia is imperiling Europe’s efforts to increase pressure on Russia as Moscow grinds through its fifth year of full-scale war in Ukraine. The EU has already struggled in recent months to approve harsh new sanctions on Russia, and can only go so far if the US isn’t also on board.

“If US would be aligned” with EU sanctions on Russia, Kallas said, “we could really put the pressure so that Russia will finish this war.”

Still, the EU is trying to push ahead. On Monday, ministers endorsed penalties on more than 1,600 people and companies accused of aiding Russia’s war against Ukraine — the bloc’s largest sanctions package to date.

Kallas told reporters that more than half of the sanctions target Russia’s ballistic missile supply chain, while others hit individuals linked to elections Russia held in occupied Ukrainian territory. In addition, she said, some penalties are linked to North Korea’s support for Russia.

Finally, EU countries broadly expressed support for further restricting Russian visas, but Kallas said officials are still working on a formal proposal.

Ultimately, it was Trump’s recent actions — and his diesel deal specifically — that dominated the conversation as ministers arrived Monday morning.

“This deal doesn’t help neither the crisis of the oil products nor the unity within the transatlantic community,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys. “It is not the European way.”

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, agreed that Trump’s decisions were “concerning,” saying it would be discussed during Monday’s meeting.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard argued it was time to revisit the idea of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine’s defense. Spain, Poland and the Netherlands are also backing the approach, which previously failed after it could not get enough support.

Pressuring Russia has become more urgent for Europe as officials warn Russia has opened a new phase of hybrid war on the continent — a perpetual campaign of sabotage, arson, assassinations and other deniable tactics meant to erode the continent’s support for Ukraine.

The concerns peaked in September when Germany blamed Russia for a failed drone attack on a Leipzig airport used to supply Ukraine. Russia has denied any links to these tactics.

In the wake of the drone incident, EU officials vowed to impose new penalties on Russia and offer Ukraine more aid. But only weeks later, the EU actually lifted its sanctions on two Russian billionaires at France and Luxembourg’s request. The move was made as part of a deal to prolong existing restrictions for three years on nearly 3,000 other businessmen, politicians and companies.

Still, the EU has advanced several measures to help Ukraine in recent weeks. European countries vowed to get Ukraine the missile interceptors it needed before Russia’s expected winter onslaught and granted Kyiv’s request to buy US-made Patriot missiles with an EU loan.