Firefighters operate to extinguish a fire inside a clinic building after a Russian aerial attack on Kharkiv on Oct. 10, 2026, as a result of which four people were wounded, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Credit: Sergey Bobok/AFP)
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Saturday that lifting sanctions on Russian diesel helped fuel the Kremlin's war on Ukraine, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal for Moscow to supply fuel.
"Suspending sanctions on Russian diesel provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war. This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won't," Kallas posted online.
In parallel, Germany said that it would continue to push for new EU sanctions against Russia despite Moscow's agreement with Washington.
"The German government sticks to its measures sanctioning Russia and is working jointly with its European partners on new sanctions," government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement sent to AFP.
Major backer Germany's "support for Ukraine in its struggle to defend itself remains unfailing," he added.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine Saturday were Moscow's "thanks" for a diesel deal agreed with the United States, deepening his criticism of the agreement.
"Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia," Zelensky said in a post on X.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media after talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin: "Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace."
