Streeting: UK does not support Trump’s Russia diesel deal
The defence secretary said it was for Ukrainians to choose their leader, after Trump suggested Ukraine should get a new one.
The UK does not support Donald Trump’s deal to buy millions of tonnes of diesel from Russia, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on 11 October, speaking to Radio 4’s Broadcasting House.
Streeting said the agreement had been done in the context of the US president facing elections in November, at a time when politicians across the world were under pressure to ease the cost of living, BBC News reported. He argued that the US and other allies should focus on increasing pressure on Russia to shorten the war “and to secure Ukraine’s freedom”.
Trump confirmed on 9 October that the US and Russia had agreed to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April, which will fall in 2027. Under the deal, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel, with a further 500,000 tonnes in November. The deal is aimed at lowering fuel prices in America, which have risen following the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the agreement would allow Moscow to raise money to buy new military equipment and keep fighting. Speaking outside the White House on 10 October, Trump said Zelenskyy “wants to make problems for the world” by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries, and suggested Ukraine should “get a new leader who can make a deal”.
Streeting said it was a matter for Ukrainians to choose their leader, but that Ukraine was “fortunate to have someone of his calibre, his courage and his integrity leading their war effort”. Responsibility for the war, Streeting said, “lies squarely and solely with President Putin and his imperialist ambitions”.
The defence secretary said it was not the first time Washington and Kyiv had disagreed in public. The UK saw it as its role, Streeting said, to “try and bring our friends back together again”. Streeting also said there was “often an understatement” of how much help Washington had given Ukraine, pointing to weapons, intelligence support and a diplomatic initiative led by Washington.
Andrew Griffith, the Conservative shadow chancellor, said on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that Trump was “wrong” to call for Zelenskyy to go and that the diesel deal “sends out all the wrong messages”. The US is “our closest ally but even close allies can disagree”, Griffith said.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke to Zelenskyy on 10 October and restated “complete solidarity”, according to a Downing Street readout published on GOV.UK. The two leaders said Russia should agree to an immediate energy ceasefire, ending its strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and its attacks on shipping in the Black Sea. They agreed to meet in person in the coming days.
