Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Piers Morgan Uncensored, in an interview aired Wednesday, that he feels betrayed by the Trump administration's deal to buy Russian diesel — calling it a simple victory for the Kremlin and a sign that Kyiv is losing a strong partner in America.
Asked point-blank whether he felt betrayed, Zelenskyy did not dodge the question. "Really, yes," he told Morgan, adding that it was about more than his feelings — Ukraine, he said, is fighting to survive.
His case was that Washington has picked a side. The diesel deal, he argued, hands Vladimir Putin a simple victory and leaves the Kremlin laughing, while Ukraine loses the strong partner it has relied on throughout the war. He said he could accept Trump standing in the middle — but a mediator has to stay there, not drift to the wrong side — and he blamed the president's advisers for steering him wrong.
"It's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side," Zelenskyy said.
The administration's reasoning is straightforward. Trump announced the Russian diesel purchases the previous week to bring down U.S. energy costs ahead of the midterm elections, and on October 11 he announced an energy ceasefire — a president moving to ease the fuel prices American voters feel every week, and to get both sides to stop hitting each other's energy infrastructure.
His team has warned Kyiv and European allies that the United States could suspend intelligence sharing and European purchases of U.S. weapons for Ukraine if it does not halt its deep strikes on Russian energy facilities, which Washington blames for rising global fuel prices.
CNN reported that Russian attacks came hours after Trump said the ceasefire was in effect, and that neither Moscow nor Kyiv had confirmed it.
He also criticised the restriction on Ukraine's Starshield and Starlink access, calling it a big mistake and warning that people will die. Elon Musk has responded that Starshield is owned and controlled by the U.S. government, so its limits are set by the U.S. military and the president, while Starlink is a commercial service for civilian and defensive use.
The stakes run in both directions. The diesel deal has drawn bipartisan criticism in Washington and anger among European allies, and Kyiv depends on American intelligence, weapons and backing to keep fighting. For Trump, the deal is aimed at the fuel prices American voters feel weekly heading into the midterms.
For now, the ceasefire Trump announced remains unconfirmed by Moscow and Kyiv, and Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy network continue — leaving the president's push for cheaper fuel at home and a halt to the energy war abroad still hanging in the balance.
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