Trump’s team told Ukrainians at talks that they would get nothing for the diesel deal with Russia — NYT

At six hours of negotiations at a golf club near Miami, American representatives unexpectedly announced a suspension of sanctions on Russian diesel fuel and conveyed Donald Trump’s tough demand to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries.

The details of the meeting were revealed by The New York Times.

The talks took place on Friday with the participation of Ukrainian and European delegations, as well as representatives of U.S. President — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

When one of the Ukrainian negotiators asked what Kyiv would receive in return, the Americans replied that the U.S. was already doing a great deal for Ukraine and was not obligated to offer anything. In this context, they mentioned American intelligence assistance, which they described as vital to the Ukrainian military. According to the NYT, some participants at the meeting interpreted this as a veiled threat to cut off the sharing of intelligence.

A U.S. administration official denies that any such threat was made, but acknowledges that Trump is so angry at Ukraine that it is difficult to predict his next steps.

During the negotiations, Witkoff left the room to join a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Later, senior EU official Björn Seibert, who participated in the meeting, told European ambassadors that the Americans were maintaining far more intensive contacts with the Russians than they publicly acknowledge.

In addition, the NYT reports that Witkoff and Kushner postponed a planned late-October trip to Moscow until Vladimir Zelensky repairs his relationship with Trump.