Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently expressed his dismay after President Donald Trump struck a major deal with Russia amid his ongoing conflict with the country.
In a recent interview with Axios, Zelensky described Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Russia and allow the exportation of diesel as "not fair and not honest."
"You know, it looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible," Zelensky said, referring to the Russian leader's October 7 birthday.
The outlet noted that during the interview, Zelensky "sounded exasperated and dismayed and even expressed a sense of betrayal by the news."
The leader's comments came after Trump shared a Truth Social post on Friday afternoon announcing that he struck a deal with Russia, in which the country will provide tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace.
He further promised that diesel prices, which have skyrocketed as a result of his decision to launch a war alongside Israel with Iran, will come down "IN RECORD NUMBERS" as a result.
Zelensky isn't the only leader criticizing the decision. According to the AFP, Kaja Kalla, foreign policy chief at the European Union, argued that "lifting sanctions on Russian diesel helped fuel the Kremlin's war on Ukraine," and warned doing so now will provide the country "more revenues to wage war."
The high gas prices have angered several US voters ahead of the November midterm elections, and are seen as a leading factor in Trump's current historically low polling numbers.
On Friday, Trump told reporters the deal is "massive" and adamantly thanked Putin. When asked about Zelensky's criticism, Trump insisted, "We need oil for the world. And we're very happy to get diesel fuel."
Ukraine needs the US to end Russia's invasion
Throughout Trump's second term, Zelensky has tried adamantly to maintain a strong relationship with the US as his country continues to seek support against Russia's ongoing invasion of the country.
In spite of his efforts, Trump and his allies have been dismissive of Zelensky, even going so far as to mock him during visits to the White House, while seemingly going out of their way to appease Putin.
Zelensky went on to say that Trump's decision "shows weakness of the world," but admitted, "We need the Americans to try to stop this war."