Trump Announced a Diesel Deal With Russia. Four GOP Senators Sent a Letter Decrying It.
Four Republican senators joined three Democratic counterparts to openly criticize President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions against Russian diesel to alleviate fuel markets.
“Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine. Congress was clear: the U.S. should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our NATO Allies,” said Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, John Curtis and Thom Tillis, who joined Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden in signing the document.
The letter goes on to note that Trump’s decision “to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law” and has “has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute.”
“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course,” the senators concluded.
Trump announced the deal last Friday, saying “it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter.”
The notice clarified that Russian central bank assets in American banks remain frozen, and that other restrictions pertaining to the exclusion of Russian financial infrastructure from the U.S. financial system remain in place.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also criticized the deal. In a scathing statement released on Friday, Zelenskyy said that “allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”
On Saturday, he also remarked that Russia had “expressed its thanks” to the U.S. “for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.”
Trump also declared an energy ceasefire between the countries during the weekend, leading Zelenskyy to say he was unaware of it and noting that, in any case, Russia is already violating it.
“There were Russian violations of the energy ceasefire announced by President Trump,” Zelenskyy said in the context of a conference in Poland of which he took part through video. Kyiv accused Moscow of striking a thermal power plant in the city of Kharkiv.
Zelenskyy went on to say that he continues to wait for details of the deal. The Kremlin has not confirmed it either, saying that contacts were still ongoing.
