Senators: Trump's Russia diesel deal breaks 2022 law — SkimNews
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- Seven bipartisan senators — Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis — said Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel imports violates a 2022 law banning such trade until Russia ends its war in Ukraine and stops threatening NATO allies.
- Trump announced the deal Friday after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, saying Russia would immediately supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets.
- The senators said the Trump administration failed to consult Congress or submit the statutory explanation required to justify the move under law.
- Congress had recently passed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, granting the President power to impose sweeping sanctions and 100 percent tariffs on Russia's top five oil and gas trading partners, including India and China.
- The senators urged the administration to "immediately reverse course," warning that accepting Russian diesel gives Putin a "financial lifeline" while Russia continues killing Ukrainian civilians.
Why it matters: Four Republican senators broke with Trump on Russia policy, joining three Democrats in a formal demand that the administration reverse the diesel arrangement or face a legal confrontation with Congress, which had reaffirmed its anti-Russia energy posture weeks earlier by passing the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.
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