US-Russia diesel deal raises doubts, Meloni warns of weakening sanctions on Russia

Italian Prime Minister Meloni said on the 14th that reaching a diesel agreement between the United States and Russia is an extremely risky choice. (Reuters)

U.S. President Trump said on the 9th that he had reached an agreement with Russia. Russia agreed to release a large amount of diesel to the U.S. and global markets to drive down diesel prices. At the same time, Washington would also temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil. Italian Prime Minister Meloni said on the 14th that reaching a diesel agreement between the United States and Russia is a "very risky choice."

According to Reuters, Meloni told the Italian Congress before this week's EU summit that the outcome of the U.S.-Russia diesel deal is still full of uncertainty, but the risks are obvious. The deal provides a new source of funding for Russia's war while implicitly undermining the effectiveness of international sanctions against Russia.

Meloni pointed out that the U.S.-Russian diesel agreement runs counter to efforts to force Russia to negotiate with Ukraine, adding that the 27 EU member states should jointly elect a credible figure to represent Europe in negotiations with Russia on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Meloni did not rule out the possibility of the E3 group, which consists of Germany, France and Britain, taking part in the negotiations.

"If France, Germany and the United Kingdom believe that acting alone they can achieve better results than we can achieve together, and so far they have chosen this path, then they should be allowed to act on behalf of European countries with formal authorization," Meloni said.