Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv blasts peace talks as just ‘smokescreen’ for Trump‘s Russian diesel deal

Trump’s announcement a betrayal of Ukraine, Democrats say; Ukraine strikes major datacentre in Russia. What we know on day 1,690 Ukrainian peace negotiators in Miami have been used as a “smokescreen” for a “weak” decision by Donald Trump to lift diesel sanctions on Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a furious response to the US president’s backflip on Russian sanctions.

In a move likely to create a fresh crisis with Washington’s Nato allies, Trump announced the deal with Putin on his Truth Social network, saying it was essential to reduce fuel prices in the US, which have soared as a result of his decision to go to war with Iran. The Ukrainian president, who flew to Washington last month to plead with US lawmakers to pass tougher sanctions on Russia, said in a statement on Friday that it was “unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners”.

“I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other.” Negotiators for the US, Ukraine and Europe held six hours of talks in Miami on Friday with the aim of reaching agreement on ending the war in Ukraine, a source briefed on the talks said. They discussed a postwar economic package for Ukraine and potential new security architecture between Europe and Russia, the source said.

President Trump announced the diesel deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were meeting with Ukrainian officials in Florida to discuss a...

Read the original report at The Guardian.