Washington DC, Oct. 9 -- Amid Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's criticism of easing sanctions on Moscow without a de-escalation agreement, US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) hailed the diesel deal with Russia as a "big deal", thanking Russian President Vladimir Putin for agreeing to supply "massive amounts" of diesel to the United States.

"I think you heard about the oil deal with Russia. That is a big deal. That is massive amounts of oil coming into our country. I want to thank President Putin. We have massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and it is diesel, which is what we want," Trump told reporters outside the White House before heading to Syracuse, New York, for the midterm election campaign.

His rem...