Boris Johnson slams Trump over 'sickening' new deal with Putin
Boris Johnson has slammed Donald Trump over the US president's recent dealings with Vladimir Putin.
The POTUS has suspended sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April after reaching a deal with Putin that will see the Russian president release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately 'to the American and global marketplace', followed by 500,000 tonnes in November.
A further one million will follow after that as fuel prices have soared across the US due to the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Johnson, the former UK prime minister who's long had a close relationship with Trump, has described the deal between Trump and Putin as 'sickening'.
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He told the Daily Mail: "The double standards are outrageous. Why should Putin be allowed to destroy Ukrainian energy infrastructure – as well as murdering countless civilians – if the Ukrainians are forbidden from responding?
"I doubt that Putin has the diesel to ship to the US but if he tries to go via the English Channel I hope it is intercepted by the Royal Navy."
The former prime minister added: "The Ukrainians are valiantly trying to protect themselves and their families from threats of bombardment.
"We should be helping them and the best way to get this over and get the price of fuel down is to make Putin see sense.
"It's ridiculous to try to appease Putin and it won't make a bean of difference to the price of fuel."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, told Axios that 'back room deals' with Putin would give Russia more of an advantage on the battlefield.
Zelenskyy went on to describe the deal as 'absolutely terrible' and 'not fair and not honest'.
The Ukrainian president added on social media on Saturday (October 10): "Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.
"Last night confirmed once again that in Russia, they take any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed."
Trump hit out at Zelenskyy following his comments, saying 'it's time for Ukraine to get a new president'.
Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia's invasion in 2022, meaning elections are suspended.
On Sunday (October 11), Trump claimed Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an energy ceasefire, which the Ukrainians confirmed.
However, Zelenskyy has since said Russia hit a Ukrainian power plant 'immediately after' Trump declared the ceasefire.
Topics: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Politics, US News
Callum Jones