President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia has agreed to sell diesel fuel to the United States and other markets, in a bid to bring down fuel prices before the November midterm elections.

Trump said the two leaders agreed on 300,000 tons right away, 500,000 tons in November and another million tons after that, RFE/RL reported. He said prices would come down "in record numbers, and fast." The Treasury Department issued a temporary license that allows Russian diesel to be sold and imported through April 7, 2027.

Ukraine was furious. President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios the deal was "not fair and not honest" and looked like "a happy birthday present for Putin." He said his team was meeting Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in Miami when the news broke, and the Americans never said a diesel deal was on the table. "I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen," Zelensky said, according to Al Jazeera.

Some American lawmakers were also upset. Republican Representative Don Bacon told RFE/RL that "propping up Russia's war economy is terrible." Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called it "a stain on our nation's character."

The same phone call brought bad news for peace efforts. Putin told Trump that Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow during Russia's elections last month made an immediate return to three-way talks unlikely, a Kremlin aide said, Al Jazeera reported.

Diesel prices have soared since the United States and Israel began striking Iran in February. Diesel futures fell about 4% after Trump's post but were still more than double their level at the start of the year, RFE/RL said.

Zelensky said he still needs American help to end the war. "We need the Americans," he told Axios.

What we know: Russia will be allowed to sell diesel into U.S. and world markets through April 2027.
What we don't: Whether the deal lowers prices at the pump, or when peace talks resume.