Trump did, in fact, throw Ukraine under the bus.
On Friday, as the Ukrainian delegation met his envoys in Miami, the US president had a call with Putin and announced a diesel deal with Russia that lifted sanctions for six months. Zelensky called the whole Miami trip a smokescreen, with Democrats and Republicans calling Trump out for making the deal behind everyone’s back – except the Kremlin’s.
A day later, Trump lambasted Kyiv for hitting Russian refineries and renewed calls for Zelensky’s removal, while Kellogg – contrary to his old boss – said Kyiv should keep just hitting the refineries.
Then, as most Kyivans live without power and water, Trump said out of nowhere on Sunday that an energy truce was in place immediately, with Zelensky saying he only found out like everyone else. Despite that, Kyiv did not strike Russian refineries between Sunday and Monday, but Russia had already hit another power plant in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv.
It’s also unclear how the energy truce is supposed to work. Kyiv said it agrees only if it’s bilateral, meaning Russia also stops hitting Ukraine’s energy grid, but the current terms appear to cover refineries only, which overwhelmingly favors Russia. Zelensky also doubled down on Ukraine’s offer by politely saying that Kyiv decides whether and when Russian diesel leaves Russian ports and that Trump should make a deal with Kyiv, not Russia.
Makes you wonder what Putin told Trump in that phone call.
By Leo Chiu
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