Czech president: US diesel deal with Russia derails Ukraine peace push

Czech President Petr Pavel said a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire was "quite close" until President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel, giving Moscow "new hope" and making peace harder to achieve. Pavel said the U.S.-Europe sanctions were straining Russia, but the diesel deal, announced earlier this month, provided Moscow "time to breathe" and a "moral boost." He called the move "a mistake" rather than betrayal, adding it lets Russia disregard Europe and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Trump of using peace talks as a "smokescreen," saying the deal allows Russia to "kill more" and wage war longer. Pavel defended Ukraine as the conflict's victim and noted Trump views Russia through economic prosperity, not democracy versus autocracy.