Trump Defends Russia Policy and Blames Ukraine for Fuel Costs

U.S. President Donald Trump defended his Russia policy in an Oct. 18 Truth Social post, citing waived sanctions, a deal to buy diesel and pressure on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. He said those steps formed part of a diplomatic plan to negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The report contains no information about migration, asylum policy, border enforcement or refugees. It focuses on Trump’s defence of his Russia policy and his accusations against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump’s stated case for negotiations

“My decision on Russia is a very simple one,” Trump wrote. “I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don't want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table. Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations!”

Trump said he intended his decisions to keep Russia engaged in negotiations. His post referred to hostage negotiations, but the report gave no further details about them. It identified the story as developing.

Trump also defended a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Moscow wasn’t helping Iran in its war with the United States but was helping the international community by “sending, at a low price, millions of barrels of diesel to the World.”

“Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way,” Trump wrote. The report described the deal as one of the Russia-related decisions he defended in the post.

Fuel prices and accusations against Ukraine

The report said the war in Iran was driving up global fuel prices, including prices for U.S. consumers. It said Trump had sought to blame Ukraine as midterm elections approached. Evidence cited in the report pointed to the war in Iran, rather than Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, as the primary driver of the price surge.

Trump accused Zelensky of targeting Russian refineries despite the effect on diesel markets. “Zelensky is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States,” he wrote.

Trump was pressuring Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries, the report said. It provided no further details about the attacks or identified evidence behind Trump’s claim about their effects on diesel markets. It did state that the evidence pointed to the war in Iran as the main cause of rising prices.

Trump also accused Zelensky of not wanting to end the war. He wrote that Zelensky “could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.” Trump said Ukraine’s “country is in shambles,” that “a large portion of his land is lost,” and that “his oceans and seas are gone.” He also described Ukraine’s male population as “low, wounded, and/or dead.”

“I WANT THIS WAR END!” Trump wrote. Abbey Fenbert, Senior News Editor, wrote the report.