A satellite view of smoke on Oct. 30 from the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region following a reported Ukrainian drone attack. (European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Reuters)
Russia and the United States are close to making a “big, beautiful agreement,” not just about Ukraine but about “all of Europe,” President Donald Trump said Thursday, declaring that he met the Kremlin’s top peace negotiator — but not Ukraine’s — at the White House earlier in the day.
Trump offered no specifics about what he had discussed with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, but his vow was likely to set off alarm in Kyiv and around Europe, since it appeared that the U.S. leader had again excluded Ukrainian representatives from discussions about their own future.
Dmitriev and his Ukrainian counterpart, David Arakhamia, were in the White House on Thursday to celebrate a limited ceasefire and humanitarian exchange that they said had been brokered by first lady Melania Trump. But the president said that only Dmitriev was ushered in for a private meeting with him.
“It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine. It’s going to be a very big, it’s going to involve more than Ukraine, and I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump’s conversation with Dmitriev took place the same day his envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner met in Brussels with Ukrainian, NATO and European officials to discuss what he said were “security guarantees for Ukraine and a broader European security architecture.”
Kushner said in a post on X that “our objective is to address the security concerns of all sides through practical, mutually agreed arrangements that reduce the risk of future conflict.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought a grand bargain with Washington over European security as he seeks to restore Moscow to the powerful role it held before the collapse of communism.
Trump, asked whether he had raised Putin’s targeting of Ukrainian civilians in apartments, buses and schools, said yes, “and I also bring it up the other way, because the other way they kill, a lot of people are being killed. ... You know, Russia is losing civilians also.”
Although Ukraine has expanded its attacks on civilian infrastructure inside Russia in recent months after largely avoiding them for years, it has generally focused on energy targets, data centers and warehouses that make it harder for Russia to wage war — not the schools or apartment buildings that have long been routine targets for the Russian military inside Ukraine.
Trump has often touted major deals that never materialized, and his forecast of a new agreement with Russia could run into multiple problems: He could unilaterally order a pullback of U.S. troops from Europe, for example, but that would probably run into fierce congressional opposition, including from many Republicans. Any effort to pursue joint U.S.-Russian economic projects in Europe would run into a wall of European sanctions against Russia that Trump can’t reverse. That type of strategy would also mark a major reversal of Trump’s own policies, since he has long criticized Europe for being too reliant on Russian energy. Europe started taking steps to reduce its Russian energy purchases following the Kremlin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Even if Trump’s negotiations with Russia go nowhere, however, his approach on Thursday was likely to deepen Ukrainian and European concerns that the U.S. president has again thrown in his lot with Putin after a year-long stretch in which he had appeared more sympathetic to Ukraine.
Trump blasted Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month for Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries, which the U.S. leader said were driving up the global price of diesel and causing pain for Americans at the pump ahead of the midterm elections. Trump made a deal with Putin to purchase Russian diesel, reversing U.S. sanctions imposed because of the war.
Ukraine paused attacks on Russian energy targets, but it has started hitting them again, since Kyiv views the tactic as a rare point of leverage against the Kremlin in a grinding war of attrition. Ukraine hit one of the key oil refineries that supplies Moscow hours before the day of diplomacy on Thursday.
Trump’s swing back toward Moscow came hours after the chief peace negotiators for Ukraine and Russia sat next to each other at a White House event with Melania Trump.
The two sides came together to celebrate a limited ceasefire that eased the toll on Oleshky, a hard-hit Russian-held town in southern Ukraine, where residents had struggled to get access to food and water. It enabled hundreds of people to relocate to safer territory last week.
Ukraine and Russia are set to meet next week for formal peace talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but their top negotiators traveled to Washington ahead of that.
Their presence was a measure of the power of the first lady, who has expressed concern about the humanitarian toll of the war on children and families. Both sides said they wanted her to keep pushing for more peace efforts and went out of their way to praise her on Thursday.
“Dear Melania, you saved so many lives,” Dmitriev said Thursday, as he gave Trump a drawing made by an 11-year-old who he said had departed from Oleshky to Russian territory. The picture — a crayon or colored-pencil drawing of a tall woman in a blue dress — said “I love Melania.”
The Ukrainians awarded the first lady a state honor: the Order of Princess Olha, First Class.
Chief Ukrainian peace negotiator David Arakhamia with first lady Melania Trump on Thursday. (Alex Brandon/AP)
“We would like to ask you to keep going and find new missions and to de-escalate more, as much as possible, because I’m also a member of political track, and political track is more complex,” Arakhamia told the first lady. “It’s more difficult.”
The event came hours after the Ukrainian attack on the Russian refinery, in defiance of Trump’s warnings to halt such operations.
The massive Ukrainian drone attack targeted the Ryazan oil refinery overnight Wednesday as well as a nearby logistics hub for Wildberries, Russia’s version of Amazon. The attack came days after Ukrainian drones struck another large oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region.
Even as the two sides continue to pursue their military goals, both Russia and Ukraine appear to have made the calculation that embracing Melania Trump and her adviser, Marc Beckman, is a worthwhile investment. Beckman is the first lady’s “exclusive senior adviser,” according to his LinkedIn profile, and worked out the details of the Oleshky ceasefire with each side.
“Both nations welcomed my participation, acknowledging that previous efforts to establish a ceasefire in the region have not succeeded,” Melania Trump said Thursday, adding that “my role as an exclusive intermediary was memorialized in written agreements drafted and signed by both Russia and Ukraine.”
“I was involved in every stage of the planning. I reviewed the demining plans, aerial images, assessed roadways, and discussed evacuation routes, hospital access, vehicles and medical resources. I was made aware of the preferred dates and timings of the operation,” she said.
The limited ceasefire helped nearly 800 people evacuate from Oleshky last week after being trapped for months under dire circumstances, with little access to food or water.
The Ryazan refinery is one of the largest in Russia. In 2024 it processed about 14 million tons of crude oil, about 4.9 percent of the country’s total refining. Ukrainian drones have attacked the plant repeatedly since the start of the year, causing it to periodically suspend its operations. It is one of three refineries that supply gasoline to Moscow, according to Sergey Vakulenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
The other two refineries — Lukoil’s refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region and Slavneft-YANOS in Yaroslavl — were also attacked this week. Ukraine’s strikes have forced Russia to periodically ration fuel at home and impose an export ban on diesel.
In a statement Thursday, Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency said that “Ukraine’s ‘long-range sanctions’ are dealing tangible blows to Russia’s oil refining sector” and claimed to have knocked 15 of Russia’s 38 main refineries out of operation since September. Russian authorities have reported strikes on, and damage to, industrial facilities but generally have avoided naming specific refineries. The Washington Post could not independently verify the claims.
Ryazan’s governor, Pavel Malkov, reported damage from falling debris and fires “on the territory of industrial facilities,” adding in a post on the messaging app Telegram that power had been lost in part of the city. One person was injured in the attack.
In recent weeks, Trump had launched a last-minute effort to try to offset global fuel prices caused by his war with Iran by striking a controversial diesel deal with Russia and pressuring Ukraine to stop hitting Russia’s refineries.
Trump announced on Oct. 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to “an energy ceasefire” in a brief social media post that offered little detail on the deal beyond a warning: “Do not break it!” Neither side said it had any participation in or understanding of the agreement, but Ukraine held off on attacks for three days after Trump’s announcement while accusing Russia of repeatedly attacking its power grid.
In an interview with The Post, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko, who heads the parliamentary committee on foreign policy, described Trump’s energy ceasefire proposal as “ludicrous” and said Ukraine had “no other option” but to continue the strikes.
“We are being killed every day. We don’t have much leverage. It’s maybe the only thing we are doing that is actually painful to Putin. And if we stop these strikes, they will not stop attacking us. These deep strikes are our only card,” he said.
Putin will only negotiate when he is in pain,” he continued. “So these strikes are the only thing that will bring us closer to peace.”
Tuesday’s midterm elections in the U.S. nonetheless resulted in a victory for the Democratic Party, which swept control of both chambers of Congress for the remainder of Trump’s term.
Meanwhile, Kyiv was hit by some of its worst recent power and water outages, as Russia continues to bludgeon its critical infrastructure in attempt to make Ukraine’s big cities unlivable by winter. Regional governors in Odesa and Chernihiv said Thursday that Russian strikes had also hit energy and civilian infrastructure and sparked fires.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Thursday that the electricity supply situation remains difficult in Kyiv and the surrounding region, where extensive damage to energy infrastructure has forced operators to impose grid restrictions. Across most of Ukraine, household and businesses are experiencing scheduled hourly power outages.
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Ebel reported from Kyiv. Natalya Abbukamova in Riga and Serhiy Morgunov in Berlin contributed to this report.
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correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly said David Arakhamia awarded first lady Melania Trump the Order of Princess Olha, First Class. A different Ukrainian official presented the award.
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The comments reflect strong criticism of President Donald Trump's handling of foreign policy, particularly regarding Ukraine and Russia. Many commenters express skepticism about Trump's ability to negotiate effectively, with some mocking the involvement of Melania Trump in diplomatic efforts. There is significant support for Ukraine's actions against Russian infrastructure, with commenters advocating for continued pressure on Russia. Additionally, there is concern about Trump's perceived alignment with Putin and the implications for democracy and international relations.
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Observations
Earlier today Midterms give Ukrainians cautious hope for aid, even as Trump talks deals with Putin
Earlier today
In Ukraine, drones are death. Now they are rescuers, too.
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More on authors of article
Michael Birnbaum is a White House correspondent for The Washington Post, covering the Trump presidency. He previously covered national security and diplomacy from Washington and served more than a decade in Europe as The Post’s bureau chief in Brussels, Moscow and Berlin. He joined The Post in 2008. Send him secure tips on Signal at @mbwp.01.follow on X@michaelbirnbaum/
Francesca Ebel is a Ukraine correspondent for The Washington Post and a former Russia correspondent. Before joining The Post in 2022, Ebel was based in Tunisia with The Associated Press where she led the agency's North Africa coverage.follow on X@FrancescaEbel
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