US hopes diesel deal can ‘soften’ Moscow on peace talks, sources say

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/KYIV, Oct 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s envoys told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations after the failure of previous efforts to launch sustained talks to end the war, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters. 

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner told the Ukrainians in a meeting in Miami that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to his 4 1/2-year-old war in Ukraine and that the deal announced last week could help restart trilateral talks, said two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The third person said the US relayed to the Ukrainians that the diesel deal could help “soften” Moscow’s position in part because it “sends a signal that Trump is open to do things” with Russia.

That deal, under which Russia will supply more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel to ​US and global markets, has triggered a backlash from some US lawmakers, who say it will give Moscow cash to pursue its war without forcing Putin to make concessions to end the conflict. On Monday, Trump publicly defended the deal, calling it “the right choice for the American people.”

Trump says the agreement will lower US energy prices, which have become a political headache for his Republican Party ahead of pivotal midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Trump also wanted the Ukrainians to stop striking Russian refineries, Kushner said in the meeting, reiterating that the administration had made that request several times, the two people said. Trump has said Ukraine’s attacks are increasing global fuel prices, but most experts say the war in Iran is the main driver of the high costs.

“The idea was that the US could go back to Russia and say ‘See, the Ukrainians stopped striking and we gave you this deal. Now it’s your turn to do something,’” one of the people said.

Trump on Sunday announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine days after unveiling the diesel deal. The warring sides have not confirmed the ceasefire, though, and Russia struck energy targets inside Ukraine on Monday.     

The Russian embassy in Washington and the presidential office in Kyiv did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A person close to the Kremlin said the diesel deal “is a way to bring Russia back” to the negotiations. 

One of the people familiar with the meeting said the diesel agreement is just one part of a larger conversation about how to bring Ukraine and Russia back to the negotiating table and end the war. The meeting also touched on security guarantees for Ukraine, the person said, without elaborating. 

DOUBTS ABOUT MOSCOW’S WILLINGNESS TO NEGOTIATE

Trump has repeatedly said Putin wants to reach a settlement to end the war – a claim he repeated on Saturday. Ukrainian and European officials have expressed doubts that the Russian leader is willing to end the military campaign soon.

Some experts have said the diesel agreement will do little to lower prices in the US. The additional amount provided to the market will be less than a day’s supply for the US transport sector alone. 

The Ukrainian officials attending the meeting were skeptical of the US approach, which they see as using business deals to appease Russia, the two people briefed and one person in the meeting said. 

The Trump administration has previously tried to entice Putin, including through sanctions relief proposals as well as potential mineral deals. Neither has substantially changed Russia’s core demands or persuaded it to accept a comprehensive ceasefire agreement.

The person close to the Kremlin said Putin will only return to the table when “he gets the remaining 11% of Donbas, which he can present domestically as victory.” Ukraine has said it will not hand any more territory to Russia, but that freezing the conflict on the existing battle lines could be the basis for a peace deal. 

NO THREAT TO WITHHOLD US SUPPORT FOR KYIV

In the Miami meeting, Kushner and Witkoff stressed to the Ukrainian officials “all that the US has done for Ukraine,” one of the people said, including providing military and intelligence support to its forces. 

The Americans did not threaten to cut off that support if Ukraine did not agree to stop striking Russian refineries, the two people briefed and the person in the meeting said.

The meeting in Miami, which also included European officials and virtual appearances by representatives from the World Bank, came after Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv in September. Witkoff said then that the sides had created “new momentum” and that a new round of talks could soon begin.

The World Bank declined to comment.

Tensions between the US and Ukraine have spiked since the announcement of the US-Russia diesel deal. Zelenskiy called it a “weak decision” by the US and a “gift to Putin.” Trump said on Saturday that Zelenskiy “could have settled this war many times” and Ukrainians needed to “get a new president.”

Part of the meeting in Miami, which spanned several hours, focused on reconstruction funds for Ukraine and a need for Kyiv to formalize plans for investment in the country, the people briefed on the meeting said. 

The Ukrainians left the meeting without agreeing to anything formally, but signaled that they would be willing to agree to an energy ceasefire so long as Russia did.

(Reporting by Erin Banco in New York, Dan Flynn in Kyiv and Gram Slattery in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland in Washington and Gleb Bryanksi in Moscow; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)