Spain

Madrid, October 11, 2026. For the Spanish press, the episode marks a clear escalation in the relationship between Washington and Kiev. ElDiario.es reports that Donald Trump "lashed out" on Saturday, October 10, against Volodymyr Zelensky in front of the press, outside the White House, judging that "it's time for Ukraine to have a new president".

The newspaper highlights the energy grievance. Trump claims to have told Kiev: "you can do what you want with Russia, but don't attack the refineries", because that would be "a global problem" that also penalizes "our farmers, our livestock breeders" via the price of diesel, Russia supplying a large part of the world's diesel, according to him. He uttered these words before leaving for a meeting in Tennessee, ahead of the legislative elections.

ElDiario.es puts the outburst into a sequence: the delegation sent by Kiev to Florida to talk to American emissaries would have brought forward its return, and Trump had just announced that he would allow Russian operations on diesel until April in order to contain the global price increase. The American president claims that Zelensky "did not want" to conclude an agreement, that the war began "due to incompetence" and that Ukraine would not have lost "30% of its country". He suggests looking for "a new leader capable of concluding an agreement".

HuffPost España, which relies on Europa Press and the AP, talks about a "strong deterioration" of the relationship between the two governments, fueled by the energy rapprochement between Washington and Moscow. The media recalls that the day before, Zelensky had described the agreement as a "weak decision by strong partners" and warned that allowing the sale of Russian petroleum products amounts to financing an unfinished war. According to this text, Kiev believes that these revenues alleviate the economic pressure on Russia while it demands more Western sanctions and military aid.

The two media outlets therefore frame the issue as a diplomatic shock between allies, where the question of diesel serves as a trigger more than a central subject. The Ukrainian position is presented as clear and consistent, while Trump's statements are reported at length, in the form of direct quotes.