Soon after Trump's announcement the Treasury lifted those restrictions. Russian diesel to the U.S. and to global markets would lead to a decrease in prices at U.S. pumps.

Trump also announced an 'energy ceasefire' in Ukraine. Russia, which is hitting Ukrainian power stations and other energy facilities, was not informed of the move. Neither was Ukraine, which is trying to hit Russian refineries.

Trump specifically asked the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinski to stop attacks on Russian refineries as Russian oil products are currently needed in the global markets.

Zelensky rejected Trump's move and called him 'weak'. A few hours later Ukrainian drones hit Russian oil export terminals at Rostov-on-Don.

As I commented:

Trump is likely to be furious about this strike. It is Zelenski's open defiance of Trump's action that makes Trump look weak.

Ukraine's military communication on the battlefield depends on the U.S. controlled Starlink satellite network. Its ability to strike within Russia largely depends on U.S. targeting intelligence.

If Trump wants to be seen as serious he will have to immediately stop both.

Reports emerged over the weekend that Trump's emissaries in talks with Ukraine had threatened to do so.

Despite his rejection of Trump's demand, Zelensky held back with firing at Russian energy installation for three days.

He used the time to travel to Britain to meet King Charles as well as the current Prime Minister. He also had phone talks with various other European leaders and pro-Ukraine politicians in Washington DC. They seem to have assured Zelensky of their support.

During the night of Wednesday to Thursday (Oct 13/14) Ukraine attacked Russian refineries in the Saratov and Ryazan regions. In an interview with the Financial Times, published on Wednesday, Zelenski said that he would no longer abide by Trump's demand.

Also on Wednesday Kiev came again under Russian fire. The last three thermal power plants in Kiev were rendered unusable.

Kiev claimed to have not received the usual warning of incoming strikes from U.S. intelligence. Suddenly Starshield, the Pentagon controlled military version of the Starlink satellite communication network, stopped to function for Ukrainian drones and missiles:

While Kyiv said it was unfair that Russia continued to attack Ukraine's power plants and substations, it abided by the halt for three days, partly over concerns that Washington could stop sharing the intelligence Ukraine needs to warn its population of incoming Russian strikes. Then, on Wednesday, Ukraine said that its military, with no warning, had lost some critical access to a military version of Starlink, a pillar of its battlefield communications.