After Putin, Zelenskyy may also feel Trump's grip tightening around his neck.

"This is my answer," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, referring to the smile with which he responded during last Friday's Brussels press conference, following his meeting with EU heads of state and government, when a journalist from the British news channel Sky News asked whether Donald Trump was using him as a scapegoat because, with the American midterm elections approaching, he cannot overcome the political difficulties caused by the Iranian war and the rising price of diesel. In the room, everyone understood without words that this meant yes. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why the American president has turned against Zelenskyy again and is favoring Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the attack on Ukraine in 2022. Trump and the scapegoat – Zelenskyy answered with this smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuBAp6OgiiI Bloody Oil The most recent move by the master of the White House was that, a few hours after Zelenskyy's smile – although there was hardly any connection between the two – he suspended by presidential decree the majority of the sanctions that would have taken effect on Sunday. Trump signed the law last month, which was championed by and bears the name of the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – who was considered Ukraine's most important supporter in the Washington upper house and died unexpectedly in July, one day after an official visit to Kyiv. The legislation, passed with a huge bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress, gave the president 30 days to implement 100 percent punitive tariffs against the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, as well as further sanctions against Russian banks and the operators of the shadow fleet serving Moscow's interests. Trump exercised his right to suspend the punitive measures citing US national security interests, but he did not detail why he did so. However, it can be guessed, as the law would impose a 500 percent punitive tariff and practically nullify Russian exports to the USA, which are already low – barely 4 billion dollars last year. Yet, at the beginning of October, Trump reached an agreement with Putin for Russia to deliver half a million tons of diesel oil to the USA and other states in November, one million in December, and a further three million tons thereafter. The quantity is almost negligible, as the USA uses about 600 thousand tons of diesel in a single day. However, in the context of the November 3rd midterm congressional elections, it is a political burden for the president and his party, the Republicans, that the average price of diesel has nearly doubled since February. Moreover, the price increase is primarily due to the consequences of the war launched against Iran.