They'll keep going: the Kremlin is already promising Washington new deals

The agreement on Russian diesel shipments is only the first step: according to the Kremlin, more joint projects with the United States are in the works. Kirill Dmitriev, Vladimir Putin's special envoy for economic cooperation and foreign investment and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said the diesel deal had opened the door to further cooperation, and revealed that on Putin's instructions, Moscow is already negotiating other economic partnerships with Washington. According to Dmitriev, Russia will "overcome every sanctions-related obstacle" to secure fuel shipments to the American market — hardly surprising, since it is Washington itself that is removing most of those obstacles: part of the agreement was that Donald Trump would lift some of the American sanctions his own administration had previously imposed on Russia.

The timing of Dmitriev's announcement is telling: on the very same day that Putin's envoy was talking about new deals, Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv's Thermal Power Plant No. 4 and a residential building. According to Zelensky, no warning came from the partners this time either, and the Ukrainian air defense system only detected the missiles once they were already approaching Kyiv. The Ukrainian president also noted that Ukraine had supported the energy ceasefire announced by Trump, while Russia is instead targeting another power plant and people's lives. Dmitriev's name, incidentally, is familiar in Europe not only because of his American contacts: according to a Reuters report from September, AfD leaders held talks with him about bringing Russian gas back to Germany.

So the Kremlin is getting exactly what it needs to keep the war going: markets, money and political legitimacy, while the party under attack gets threats, missed warnings and death. Moscow makes no secret of the fact that the diesel deal is only the opening act, but Dmitriev did not reveal what the next item on this list will be. One thing is certain: it won't be Trump's fault if there isn't another deal...

Ugar

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