The Friday, Oct. 16 summit text also welcomed €6.6 billion in EU military aid that member states agreed to release on Sept. 25.
EU leaders closed their Brussels summit on Friday, Oct. 16, with written conclusions that “regret” the U.S. decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel. That makes the objection the bloc's official line, not one minister's complaint. The text also urges other partners to “swiftly step up” support for Ukraine.
The real number. The €6.6 billion comes from the European Peace Facility, the EU's joint military-aid fund, and was agreed three weeks before the summit. Only €1 billion of it buys new equipment; €4.7 billion repays governments for aid already sent, per EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The leaders named no new weapons package.
Trump's verdict. Late on Thursday, Oct. 15, Trump told Newsmax the resumed refinery strikes were a “disgrace.” He called Volodymyr Zelensky (President, Ukraine) “not a good guy for us to deal with” and harder to deal with than Vladimir Putin (President, Russia).
Zelensky's reply. In Brussels he thanked Europe's “real leaders.” Asked if he felt betrayed, he said: “Really, yes... but it's a little bit more complicated than just my emotions or my feelings.” Guido Crosetto (Defense Minister, Italy) called U.S. limits on Ukraine “a complete mistake, a major mistake.”
Watch. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov sided with Trump the same day. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow reported new refinery strikes on Friday, Oct. 16, per NBC News.
Catch up
- Oct. 9 — Trump struck a deal to bring in Russian diesel and said Ukraine needs “a new president.” A U.S. official told Axios the deal came after Zelensky ignored “half a dozen” U.S. requests to stop hitting Russian refineries.
- Oct. 11 — Trump announced an immediate refinery-only energy ceasefire; Moscow never confirmed it, and Ukraine paused energy strikes for three days.
- Oct. 15 — Ukraine hit a Russian refinery, saying Russia never stopped its attacks and accusing Washington of cutting intelligence and throttling Starlink.