Trump's agreement with Putin enacts war: Ukraine attacks Russian oil and Moscow kills 17 civilians in Zaporizhzhia

Trump's deal with Putin ignites war: Ukraine attacks Russian oil and Moscow kills 17 civilians in Zaporizhzhia The Kremlin rebuilds bridges with the White House without committing to a truce and angers Zelensky - CAST - ENG MoscowThe agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin for Russia to immediately put 300,000 tons of diesel on the market has done nothing more than add fuel and further ignite the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky, feeling betrayed by this prize to the Kremlin, has launched a new attack against an oil export terminal. Meanwhile, the Russian army has bombed the city of Zaporizhzhia and killed at least 17 people, three of whom were children, to make it clear that business with the White House does not involve any concession from Moscow. Kyiv's drones have hit the oil facilities of Novokhtinsk, in Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border, and have killed five people. This plant supplies Russian troops fighting in Donetsk and is an important export hub for crude oil, moving three thousand five hundred tons of fuel each year. Zelensky has wanted to send a message to Washington that cannot be ignored. "Ukraine will not tolerate fire on Russian oil refineries if Russia does not destroy our energy infrastructure," he warned. The pact between Trump and Putin has angered the Ukrainian president, who called it "dishonest", "unjust" and "improper for an ally". Especially considering that at the time of the call between the two world leaders, the Ukrainian envoys were in Miami with American negotiators discussing proposals to stop the conflict. Specifically, the possibility that Kyiv ends attacks against Russian refineries, a demand that the White House has been pursuing for weeks, in exchange for Moscow stopping the bombardment of Ukrainian energy infrastructure. For this reason, Zelensky understands Trump's gesture as a "gift" and warns that Russia "interprets any easing of pressure as an opportunity to continue dropping bombs on the cities". And so it was. Few hours after the agreement, five Russian cruise missiles exploded in residential buildings in the city of Zaporizhzhia and killed more than 80 civilians in Ukraine since Wednesday. Two explosions hit housing, partially damaged them and left several people trapped under the rubble. In the early afternoon, ballistic missiles also hit Kyiv and killed at least five people. Putin's move For Putin, the scenario is very favorable. Since Trump returned to the presidency, Russia has been striving to regain economic cooperation with the United States without committing before a high-stakes conflict in Ukraine. Until now, the White House had denied this, but the electoral urgency of the Republicans gave the Kremlin an opportunity. After the telephone conversation between the leaders, the Russian presidential advisor Yuri Uixakov added that they also discussed other major joint projects besides diesel deliveries. Furthermore, unlike last spring, when the US government partially lifted oil sanctions on Russia for periods of a month to combat the price increase caused by the conflict in the Middle East, this lifting is now for almost seven months. In this way, Putin not only offers Trump a medal to hang when he needs it, but also presents Zelensky as the tragic character of the film, that persistent associate who refuses to stop bombing the Russian industry as long as the American leader demands it. From now on, therefore, the Kremlin will be able to argue that any Ukrainian attack on Russian refineries is, in reality, an attack on the national interests of the United States, with the hope of reigniting the strife between the two allies and that, eventually, Trump abandons Zelensky to his fate. Economically, however, the move does not seem without risks for Moscow. Although Russian authorities assure that they have diesel to give and sell, experts doubt this. The fires at the refineries are harming Russia's capacity to produce fuel for the domestic market and, therefore, it is not clear that they can meet the delivery volumes to which they have committed to Washington. In addition to the initial 300,000 tons, the Russian government's deputy prime minister, Aleksandr Novak, has promised another 500,000 tons in November, a million in December, and three million monthly from 2027. Amounts that economists agree will not help reduce world diesel prices. Russia, in fact, has eliminated the ban on exporting diesel introduced on August 1st, in the country's fuel crisis, with closed gas stations and kilometer-long queues for refueling. Analysts point out that any shipment sent to the United States this month will harm domestic buyers and, especially, farmers, who are in the midst of the sowing season. The measure was not well received by this sector, which does not understand why the Kremlin is rescuing the United States at a time when there is no excess diesel in Russia.