US envoys say Russian diesel export deal is a bid to bring Moscow back to talks
Donald Trump's envoys told Ukrainian officials that a deal allowing Russian diesel exports is meant to draw Russia back to negotiations on ending the war. Chatham House analyst Grégoire Roos says Moscow is just playing with Washington.
US President Donald Trump's envoys told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of an effort to draw Russia back to negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. Three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters. The explanation matters because it shows how Washington is trying to revive a diplomatic track after earlier attempts failed to produce sustained talks.
What the envoys said
According to the sources, the envoys presented the diesel arrangement as a way to bring Moscow back to the table. Previous efforts to launch continuing negotiations did not succeed. The material available gives no further details about the terms of the deal itself.
The analyst's view
France 24's Sharon Gaffney discussed the matter with Grégoire Roos, director of the Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes at Chatham House, a think tank. Roos argued that Moscow is merely playing with Washington. In his words, "it's clear that Moscow is just playing with Washington because Vladimir Putin knows that Donald Trump lives on borrowed time".
That is the analyst's own assessment, and the source does not explain in more detail what it rests on. The interview was published by France 24 on 12 October 2026 in its programme À propos, in a video of about 12 minutes.
