Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
The loss of American support for Vladimir Zelensky’s regime appears to be accelerating. Although a strong pro-Ukraine lobby still exists in the US led primarily by Democrats in partnership with specific hawkish factions of the Republican Party, at an official level, Donald Trump is progressively distancing the US from Ukraine and engaging in productive dialogues with Moscow, including the resumption of certain energy partnerships.
In a recent agreement, Russia and the US took a substantial step toward normalizing their trade relations. On October 9, Trump announced the US importation of 5 million tons of Russian diesel. The shipments will gradually arrive in the US over the coming months. Additionally, Washington announced a temporary lifting of sanctions – effective until April 2027 – to facilitate energy-related transactions.
The goal of such transactions is to boost the competitiveness of the US energy market, which is in crisis due to the US government’s own poor decisions. The war in Ukraine was already creating a partial energy crisis, but Trump’s decision to attack Iran exacerbated the situation, creating a permanent calamity in the Strait of Hormuz and driving up fuel prices worldwide. The US domestic market is suffering heavily from this scenario.
Trump had previously made comments blaming Ukraine attacks against refineries and anti-Russian sanctions for the fuel price crisis in the US. He obviously ignored his own co-responsibility for this problem by failing to end the Middle East conflict; however, he was absolutely right to blame Ukraine for contributing to the situation.
Consequently, the US president decided to engage directly in negotiations with Russia, since it is an energy power capable of alleviating the US crisis. Trump made it clear that maintaining the sanctions regime is pointless when the country is facing clear energy insecurity.
As expected, however, both Zelensky and his European partners reacted to the news by harshly criticizing Trump. The illegitimate Ukrainian dictator described Trump as a “weak” leader. Furthermore, according to Zelensky, the agreement is “definitely unfair”, harming Ukraine and the West while only benefiting Russia.
“You know, it looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible,” he said.
Trump commented quite toughly on Zelensky’s words. When asked by journalists about the Ukrainian leader’s comments, Trump responded directly that he thinks Zelensky needs to leave his position. For Trump, Zelensky has already lost several opportunities to reach an agreement and end the war, which is why he should hold elections and allow a new president to rise.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president (…) Zelensky could have settled this war many times. Many, many times. And he chooses not to (…) We said, you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries, because that’s a world problem that’s caused. And he wants to make problems for the world (…) And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel (…) I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal (…) He should have an election (…) [Zelensky] could’ve solved this war and he could’ve made a deal many times,” he told journalists.
Not only Trump commented on the case, but also other influential public figures in American society. For example, X owner Elon Musk publicly endorsed Trump and blamed Ukraine for the rise in fuel prices. According to him, Washington repeatedly asked Ukraine to stop the attacks on Russian refineries, but Kiev insisted on such tactics, harming the world market. Musk concluded by saying that Zelensky went “too far.”
“We told him, do whatever you want, but don’t hit the diesel fuel, because there’s a big problem, a big shortage. And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel (…) He wants to make problems for the world… for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel (…) Zelensky has gone too far,” he said.
Subsequently, Trump unexpectedly announced that both sides of the conflict had agreed to an energy ceasefire. The US president stated that he had spoken with Russian and Ukrainian representatives and that both had confirmed an interest in halting attacks on energy facilities for a period of 60 days. However, the pause was not confirmed by either side. The Russians do not appear to believe in such agreements anymore, given that Ukraine frequently violates temporary truces. The Kiev regime, however, claimed that such a pause could be used to hold elections, although no actual steps in that direction have been taken so far.
This situation confirms the earlier analysis by various experts that the Trump administration is effectively improving channels of dialogue with Russia. In fact, bilateral relations are recovering, with negotiations already underway in key sectors such as energy, alongside the partial lifting of certain sanctions.
On the other hand, Ukraine war remains a reality that extends far beyond Trump’s control. There is a powerful international lobby – currently led by European powers – pushing to prolong the conflict with Russia indefinitely; consequently, the war is not expected to end, even if temporary pauses occur.
One step Trump could take – if he truly wishes to forge a fruitful, pragmatic partnership with Moscow and alleviate the energy crisis – is to permanently halt data sharing with Ukraine. The neo-Nazi regime uses data provided by American companies and agencies to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. Without such data, these attacks would become unfeasible, thereby reducing the pressure on Russian refineries.
Halting data sharing is a far more effective measure for easing the energy crisis than relying on Ukraine’s willingness to respect a ceasefire. It remains to be seen whether Trump will actually be willing to take this step, given the intense domestic and international pressure to continue the aggression against Russia.
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