The White House on the Republic responds to Meloni's criticisms: "A great agreement on diesel"

NEW YORK – "President Trump has successfully negotiated another great agreement to provide enormous amounts of diesel to the global market and lower prices." Thus, the White House comments to Repubblica on the criticisms of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about the understanding reached by Trump with his Russian colleague Putin. A new friction, which could complicate bilateral relations further, even in view of the G20 in Miami in mid-December, where the head of the Kremlin was invited. Repubblica asked the White House if it intended to comment on the criticisms made by Meloni when speaking to the Senate on Wednesday. In particular, the passages in which she defined the agreement concluded by Trump with Putin as "very risky," also because "the increase in fuel prices is due mainly to the war in Iran, not the conflict in Ukraine." The judgment was therefore extended to the operations against Tehran, which had already caused friction with Trump over the failure to grant bases like Signella. The Prime Minister then extended this to the negative effects on the other invasion underway in Europe, warning that "the risk is clear: legitimizing Moscow while its bombs continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, generating new revenues to finance the war and implicitly weakening the leverage of sanctions." The White House decided to respond thus, through its spokesperson Taylor Rogers: "President Trump has successfully negotiated another great agreement to provide enormous amounts of diesel to the global market and lower prices. Lowering prices for large farmers, truckers, and American families remains an absolute priority, while the President simultaneously urges both parties of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to stop attacks on refineries, which are increasing costs and harming American consumers." Thus Washington responded both on the merits of the agreement to lower fuel prices, contested by Meloni, and on Trump's efforts to end the war, instead of perpetuating it by helping Putin with new financing. The spokesperson then drew attention to the responses that Trump himself gave to his Republican party colleagues, who were skeptical about the agreement: "I think these are Republicans who cannot be really serious. We produce a lot of oil. We could impose restrictions, but the rest of the world would be greatly affected. And we could also impose a restriction, a maximum limit on diesel, keeping it all for ourselves. This would have a very big impact." Then on the understanding with Putin he added: "It is not really an agreement with me. It is an agreement for the rest of the world." According to Trump, "anything that can help our farmers and our ranchers I like. And I think this: Zelensky must focus on making an agreement, not talking about it." The message the White House sends to Meloni is therefore clear, defending the diesel agreement and shifting the responsibility for the continuation of the war in Ukraine onto Zelensky. These are topics on which there is an obvious divergence with the Italian Prime Minister, which could reignite tensions with Trump, precisely on the eve of the annual gala the National Italian American Foundation will hold tomorrow in Washington with the presence of several members of the administration. In recent days, the White House chief hosted a reception for Columbus Day and overcame the frictions of the past months, saying that he has a good relationship with Meloni and could see her at the G20 for a bilateral meeting. However, the new divergences on Ukraine, Russia, and the diesel agreement could complicate relations further, also because Rome does not share Putin's invitation to Miami.