President Donald Trump says Russia will supply diesel to global markets in stages, and the US Treasury has authorized the transactions through April 7, 2027. The move is framed as a way to ease record-high diesel prices, but it contrasts with recent US efforts to pressure Russian energy exports and has drawn criticism from lawmakers, scholars and Ukraine over the direction of sanctions policy.
Trump said Friday that the additional supply could help bring down diesel prices. The Treasury said it had been directed to have the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issue a temporary general license permitting Russian diesel transactions for about six months, until April 7, 2027.
Trump outlines staged Russian diesel shipments
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had held a “very successful discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under the schedule he announced, Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and then a further 1 million tonnes “immediately.” Another 3 million tonnes would depend on refinery conditions.
Speaking to reporters later Friday, Trump said the US needed oil supplies, adding, “This is diesel we need,” and thanked Putin for helping bring “a lot of oil” to the US. The White House had not responded at the time to questions about the diesel arrangement.
Russia welcomed the plan. An X account linked to Putin’s economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said Russian-US cooperation in diesel and energy would benefit the world.
Diesel authorization follows new sanctions powers
The announcement comes shortly after Trump signed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, about three weeks ago. The law authorizes the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil or gas, as well as other restrictions.
Scott Lincicome, vice president at the Cato Institute, pointed to the apparent tension between the measures after Trump announced the supply plan. Congress had just passed legislation authorizing tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, he noted, asking: “Can the US tariff itself?”
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, said Trump’s move “directly contradicts” the intent of the bipartisan sanctions legislation. Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law, said easing restrictions on Russian diesel underscored that the Graham Act might not lead the Trump administration to increase economic pressure on Moscow.
Republican criticism also followed. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said Congress had given the president significant powers to use leverage over China and Russia to push Putin toward ending the war through negotiations. McCaul said he understood the goal of lowering diesel prices, but warned that relaxing sanctions on Russian oil could finance the Kremlin’s war effort and encourage further violence and destruction.
Trump’s past criticism of Russian energy purchases
The arrangement also stands in contrast to Trump’s earlier comments. Less than a year ago, his administration sanctioned several Russian oil companies, citing Russia’s failure to pursue a serious peace process to end the war in Ukraine.
In September 2025, Trump criticized some NATO members on Truth Social for continuing to buy Russian oil, saying the purchases weakened their negotiating position with Moscow. In a speech to the UN General Assembly that month, he also accused countries of buying Russian oil and gas while fighting Russia, saying they were effectively financing a war against themselves.
The administration has previously granted narrower, temporary relief from some Russian energy restrictions. Earlier this year, amid market disruption following the outbreak of the war with Iran, it issued a limited 30-day waiver allowing countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil already in transit. The new authorization applies to Russian diesel supplies for global markets and runs until April 7, 2027.
Zelenskyy says easing sanctions serves Moscow
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called easing sanctions without a clear and lasting agreement to de-escalate “obvious weakness.” He said allowing Russia to sell petroleum products amounted to investing in a war that should be ended, not prolonged, and urged the US to continue supporting Ukraine’s defense while maintaining a firm stance toward Russia.
His comments came as Ukraine’s military had begun striking Russian refineries. Zelenskyy said easing restrictions would benefit Moscow, while Trump has emphasized the goal of increasing diesel supply and relieving price pressure.
Jeremy Siegel, emeritus professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, described the agreement as a short-term “Band-Aid,” rather than a lasting solution. He also said reducing or removing sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a downside of the arrangement. The amount of diesel that reaches the market will depend on the license period, the staged shipment volumes and refinery conditions; the effects on prices and enforcement of sanctions remain to be seen.