Belgium

Brussels, October 10, 2026. Belgium's La Libre Belgique and La Dernière Heure are treating the agreement announced by Donald Trump as a diplomatic shock, before making it a matter of pump prices. On Friday, October 9, the American president wrote on Truth Social that he had a "very fruitful discussion" with Vladimir Putin: Russia would supply "more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global markets", 500,000 tonnes more in November, then 1,000,000 tonnes, and up to 3,000,000 tonnes "depending on the state of its refineries".

The two newspapers emphasize the mechanism: Russia being hit with sanctions on its hydrocarbon exports, the US Department of Finance immediately specified that it had given a provisional authorization. La Libre talks about an "exceptional waiver from the US Treasury" and a lever used "to do so", that of lifting sanctions on Moscow. La Dernière Heure quotes the Kremlin, which "reaffirmed its willingness to supply oil and petroleum products to the American and global markets".

The Belgian account then puts Kiev at the center. Volodymyr Zelensky judged the decision "unworthy of our partners" and "weak", according to comments collected from journalists and reported in the three articles. La Libre highlights the coincidence: the announcement coincides with the resumption, on Friday in Miami, of discussions between Americans and Ukrainians, in the presence of national security advisors from several European countries. La Dernière Heure specifies that a Ukrainian delegation is in the United States on Friday and Saturday to meet with Donald Trump's emissaries.

The European dimension is present but subtle: La Libre writes that the announcement "could relaunch the concerns of Kiev and European chancelleries about the attitude of the American president towards his Russian counterpart", without citing an official reaction from a European capital.

The American electoral stake is posed as the key to reading Washington. The two dailies recall that Donald Trump is seeking "by all means" to lower prices before the mid-term elections, and La Libre notes that his message targets "our fantastic farmers, breeders, and truckers", which amounts, she writes, to admitting the main objective of the agreement. She also notes that diesel has increased by more than 65% in the United States since the start of the war in the Middle East.