In brief
Volodymyr Fesenko argues Moscow wants Washington to pressure Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian refineries.
A diesel agreement between the United States and Russia could undermine Washington’s relations with Kyiv, Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said in an RBC-Ukraine podcast reported on October 24.
Fesenko argued that Moscow intended the deal to encourage US pressure on Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. A Ukrainian refusal could trigger a diplomatic crisis, he said. His account of Russia’s intentions was an analytical assessment.
He described Ukraine’s position as reasonable: halt refinery strikes only if Russia stops attacking Ukrainian energy facilities. According to Fesenko, Russia had not stopped those attacks. His comments did not announce any new agreement among the three countries.