European Union leaders have closed ranks behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Council summit in Brussels, putting on paper their unease at Washington’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Zelensky joined the 27 heads of state and government on the morning of October 16, after a round of bilateral meetings the previous evening with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and several European leaders. He was expected to brief the summit on the battlefield and leave the Belgian capital around midday.
Draft conclusions circulated before the meeting say the European Council “regrets the United States’ decision” to lift sanctions temporarily on Russian diesel, according to text reported by Euronews. The wording was added after US President Donald Trump announced the arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 9.
The US Treasury then issued a licence covering deliveries loaded from that date until April 2027, the first waiver on diesel to run beyond the usual 30-day window since the war began in 2022. Trump has demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian refineries, which he blames for higher fuel prices weeks before the US midterm elections.
Zelensky told the Financial Times that Kyiv would no longer hold back on those strikes, arguing that Moscow had ignored the energy ceasefire proposed by Washington. Trump responded by calling the Ukrainian leader “not a good guy” and ruling him out of any settlement with Russia.
European capitals lined up on the other side. French President Emmanuel Macron said Ukraine had to be given the means to protect itself, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Ukrainians online that they were not alone, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that the arrangement hands Moscow legitimacy and revenue while blunting sanctions.
The show of unity came with little attached. No fresh decisions on financing Kyiv were planned for the summit and the use of frozen Russian assets was not on the formal agenda, according to draft conclusions reported by European Pravda.
Ukraine arrived asking for more. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the Ukrainian President’s office, said Kyiv was working on European alternatives to US air defences and Starlink satellite communications, and that European support was still falling short of what the country needed.
The first day of the summit was taken up by the bloc’s own money, with leaders still divided over a 2028-2034 budget worth almost €2 trillion and European Council President António Costa taking personal charge of the negotiations before a special summit in November.
The draft conclusions also call for a ban on moving grain stolen by Russia from occupied Ukrainian territory through the EU, and for help with Ukraine’s winter preparations.
