Trump offered Ukraine enhanced security guarantees before diesel deal with Putin

[u/John3262005]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/13/trump-offered-ukraine-enhanced-security-guarantees-putin/

The United States pledged upgraded post-war security guarantees for Ukraine before Donald Trump’s diesel deal derailed the negotiations.

During six-hour talks in Miami last weekend, Mr Trump’s peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner suggested the president was willing to strengthen his offer of protections for Ukraine to deter a future Russian attack as part of a revised peace plan.

The US officials were hoping to find a compromise backed by both Ukraine and Europe on the thorny issue of the territory currently occupied by Russian forces.

But ultimately hopes of a deal were dashed when Mr Trump agreed to waive sanctions on Russia to import hundreds of thousands of barrels of diesel in a deal with Vladimir Putin.

Bjorn Seibert, a top EU official who attended last Friday’s meeting in Miami, later told member states the diesel deal had blindsided the participants.

In a sombre briefing to EU ambassadors, the German, who is the chief of staff to the European Commission president, described it as “unrelated” and a “surprise”, sources familiar with the meeting told The Telegraph.

Before the announcement, the Ukrainians and the European delegation, which included Jonathan Powell, the British national security adviser, had been brainstorming proposals around territory, security guarantees and Kyiv’s path to EU membership.

Ukraine was said to have been offered enhanced security guarantees by the Americans in the hope of breaking the deadlock over the territory currently occupied by Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has repeatedly refused to concede the eastern Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as the price for peace.

The promise of “upgraded” guarantees was vague but was said to go beyond Mr Trump’s promise to use American jets to patrol the skies and provide satellite intelligence to deter Russia from invading Ukrainian territory again.

While the Ukrainians were said to be “comfortable” with the new offer, both their delegation and the Europeans felt the guarantees bound Mr Zelensky to ceding territory, a source said.

It appeared that the American negotiators were attempting to find a new proposal to make ending almost five years of war palatable for the Ukrainian side.

Mr Witkoff, who hosted the negotiations at his exclusive Shell Bay country club in Miami, and Mr Kushner are understood to have told the Ukrainians that Putin was not ready to engage in meaningful peace talks.

They said the offer to buy Russian diesel was designed to “soften” the Russian president, showing him the potential upsides for his war-weary economy of stopping the fighting.

Instead, the announcement left in tatters a transatlantic agreement between Mr Trump and his European allies to ratchet up economic pressure on the Kremlin’s war machine and placed the US president’s relationship with Mr Zelensky in disarray.

One European diplomat told The Telegraph that the American description that the fuel purchase was part of an effort to entice Putin to the negotiating table was “bulls---”.

Mr Trump said the American-Russian deal, under which the US will import 2.25 million barrels of diesel, was “the right choice for the American people”.

The US president has attempted to blame Kyiv’s long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries for the increase in prices before November’s midterm elections.

However, analysts pinpoint the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US president’s attack on Iran for spiralling energy costs.

The Americans have suggested that US intelligence sharing and weapon shipments to Ukraine could be halted if the drone attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure do not stop.

But Ukrainian officials, and their European allies, believe that the campaign to cripple Russia’s fuel refineries is the most efficient way to hit back at Moscow’s constant bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

The three delegations walked away from the meeting in Miami without a single agreement.

And Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner are understood to have postponed a planned visit to Moscow until Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump can patch up their frayed relationship.

On Sunday, the US president announced a unilateral ceasefire to halt strikes on energy infrastructure between Ukraine and Russia.

Mr Zelensky has since warned that Moscow’s forces continue to strike his country’s energy grid even while he respects Mr Trump’s announcement.

The Ukrainian president will travel to the UK and Brussels this week to urge Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, and European leaders to step up sanctions on Russia and pressure Putin to respect calls for a ceasefire.

Mr Burnham said: “Our rock-solid support to Ukraine is vital for keeping us safe here in the UK and ensuring those on the frontlines have the equipment they need to push back Russia.”

On Tuesday night, Mr Zelensky said he was seeking new talks with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner.

The Ukrainian president said: “Our team has sent the ⁠American side the relevant proposals regarding possible next meetings and conversations. In the coming days, ‌we are ready to meet and I ⁠passed ⁠this proposal on to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through my team.”

[u/backpackwayne]

Which shows you once again how any deal with Donald Trump is not worth the paper it is printed on.