WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has reached a deal to get diesel from Russia, a stunning turnaround. years of American pressure on Moscow on his war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections.
Trump said on social media Friday that he had reached a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump announced that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and a million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will then deliver another 3 million tonnes “in a short period of time,” he wrote.
Trump’s shocking announcement stood in stark contrast to a broad law on sanctions against Russia he signed a bill last month aimed at restricting oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision “a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision made by strong partners,” according to a statement released by the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
Trump announced the deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian officials in Miami to discuss a proposal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“I think our team is just being used as a smokescreen. And that’s definitely not fair. That’s definitely not how partners should treat each other,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump’s decision casts doubt on the likelihood that the White House will impose new sanctions on Russia, given that the law overwhelmingly passed by Congress directs the administration to target countries that buy Russian oil and gas. Lawmakers had this week urged the Trump administration to act quickly to use the tools available to help Ukraine.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who is the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, called Trump’s announcement a betrayal of Ukraine, European allies and U.S. national security.
“Enough is enough,” the senators wrote. “The president must end his war with Iran instead of funding the Russian war machine.”
Global gas prices have soared as the war in Iran upends the energy sector. While diesel futures prices fell Friday, the U.S. national diesel gallon average remained elevated at $6.28, according to AAA, after hitting a record high of $6.52 on Sept. 22.
Trump did not address sanctions or Russia’s war, but said: “Lowering prices for Americans, especially our great farmers, ranchers and truckers, is my highest priority.” »
Trump said later, as he left the White House for a campaign rally, that he was grateful for the deal. “I want to thank President Putin. To be honest with you, we have enormous amounts of oil coming into our country, and it’s diesel, and that’s what we want. So, thank you,” Trump said. He did not respond to shouted questions about Zelensky’s criticism.
Washington and Moscow give few details on the agreement
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about who was paying for Russian diesel or when it would be available.
A statement from Putin, released by the Kremlin on Friday, said that during their call, he and Trump devoted “particular attention to the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis” and also discussed “the situation around Iran and various aspects of bilateral relations.”
Russia “confirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to the American and world markets,” Putin said. “I am convinced that this will have a positive impact on the entire global economy.”
The Russian president’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, speaking to reporters later, would not say whether the United States had made any concessions in exchange for those supplies, or what, if anything, had been promised to Russia in return.
Trump-Putin deal sparks immediate backlash
Zelensky, in a lengthy online post reacting to the deal, said Russia would repay him “with more terror and perfidy.” He made it an investment in the war, allowing it to continue.
“This plays into Russia’s hands, allowing it to kill more, wage war longer, have even less respect for America and inflict even greater loss and damage on the world,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who co-sponsored the Russia sanctions bill, said Trump’s decision “makes us complicit in Putin’s war on Ukraine.” In his scathing statement, Blumenthal invoked the memory of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and Russia hawk, in whose honor the law is named.
“This deal with a murderous dictator is a stain on our nation’s character, an insult to the memory of Lindsey Graham, and directly contrary to Congress’s intent in our bipartisan sanctions bill,” he said.
Rep. Don Beyer, the top House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, called Trump’s announcement “infuriating.”
“This is what we have been warning anyone who will listen: Trump cannot be trusted at all when it comes to Russia,” Beyer said in a statement on X.
The law signed by Trump last month includes sanctions against Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of oil tankers and bans new U.S. investment in Russia and sovereign debt management.
He also ordered Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with the exception of countries that import less than 15% of Russian natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce such imports.
The United States has not imported Russian oil or gas since 2022, when the Biden administration banned imports due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Treasury Department decides to ease diesel sanctions for six months
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Treasury Department announced that it was immediately issuing a temporary license authorizing the supply of Russian diesel to the global market.
This is the latest license issued by the US Treasury for Russian fuel shipments since the start of the war in Iran earlier this year. But it is the first country to ease diesel sanctions beyond the standard 30-day period since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
This license means that US sanctions will not apply until April 2027 to deliveries of Russian diesel that were loaded onto tankers on Friday.
These extensions underscore the extent to which the aftermath of the war in Iran has strengthened Moscow’s ability to profit from its energy exports.
It is unclear what impact this decision will have on oil prices.
“What effect does this have on prices? I think it’s probably not much,” said Clayton Seigle, an energy strategist and expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
But Seigle said the new deal is “a big win for Russia and for Putin,” who are currently trying to shed their summer diesel in favor of the heavier winter and Arctic grades they will need in the coming months.
“It’s kind of a mix of deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Michael Lynch of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, a nonpartisan research institution focused on energy and economics.
“If we get diesel from Russia, that basically means their existing customers won’t get it and they’ll have to go elsewhere, which will keep the price where it is now,” Lynch said.
Russia, once a major diesel exporter, has banned exports since July as it struggles to meet the country’s domestic demand due to Ukraine’s repeated attacks on Russian oil refineries. The International Energy Agency says Russian diesel production has fallen by around 30%.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told the official Tass news agency that Russia “immediately begins lifting restrictions on diesel exports, ahead of schedule.” He said Moscow could start supplying the United States this month and that Russia’s domestic market would also be “fully supplied” with diesel.
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Konstantin Toropin and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Alex Veiga in Los Angeles and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.
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