Trump announces Russia diesel deal after Putin call — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Trump announced Russia will supply over 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately to the U.S. and global market after an October 9 phone call with Putin, with further 500,000 tonnes due in November and 1 million tonnes immediately thereafter.
- Russia could deliver up to 3 million more tonnes depending on refinery conditions, Trump said on Truth Social, adding that combined with "TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz" diesel prices would fall "IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST."
- The deal arrives as U.S. diesel averages $6.28 per gallon — up from $3.68 a year ago — amid the war on Iran, with fuel costs now a flashpoint ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
- Zelenskyy called the move "gifts to Putin," warning that allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is "an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged."
- Senator Richard Blumenthal — co-author of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act that Trump signed into law on September 18 — called the diesel deal an "embarrassment," while Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) said "propping up Putin's war economy is morally wrong."
- Trump's prior plan to ban U.S. diesel exports was shelved last month after the oil and gas industry warned such a move would cause global shortages and price spikes.
Why it matters: Less than a month after Trump signed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, he is now buying Russian diesel — the very commodity his law targets third-country purchasers from. With diesel at $6.28/gallon and midterms 24 days away, the administration is trading long-term Ukraine policy for short-term pump-price relief; even the law's co-author Senator Blumenthal called it an 'embarrassment.'
Ask SkimNews
