Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and the world in the two-Pennis deal
U.S. President Trump said on the 9th that he had reached an agreement with Russia. Moscow agreed to significantly release diesel to lower the price of diesel. At the same time, Washington would also temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil - a move originally intended to cut off Russia's funding for its war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision "weak", while the European Union and Germany said sanctions on Rosneft would remain unchanged.
Please read on...
US lifts fuel sanctions, Germany says sanctions on Russian oil remain unchanged
Trump, who had a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 8th, issued a statement saying that he and Putin had a "very successful" discussion and that "Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets," 500,000 tons of diesel in November, and one million tons later, and promised to supply larger quantities of diesel in the future. On the 9th, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a temporary license to allow Russian diesel to flow into the global market before April next year. Trump said lowering prices for Americans, especially our great farmers, ranchers and truckers, "is the most important priority."
On the 10th, Russian media quoted a Kremlin aide as saying that the atmosphere of the call was "very substantive and friendly" and neither of them was willing to hang up first.
U.S. diesel prices soar to near record high, endangering election
Since the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East at the end of February this year, the price of gasoline and diesel in the United States has continued to soar. Diesel, which is widely used in agriculture, home heating, and trucking, is now close to a record high. The rising cost of living has caused dissatisfaction among voters, which may jeopardize the Republican Party's midterm election in early November and even lose control of Congress. Although diesel prices fell after Trump announced a diesel deal with Russia, analysts believe that the agreement alone may not be enough to keep diesel prices down.
The US reportedly asked Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries six times but failed
U.S. news website Axios reported, citing a U.S. official familiar with the matter, that the Trump administration had asked Ukraine six times to stop attacking Russian refineries, but Zelensky had not cooperated. The United States believes that Ukraine's attacks have increased pressure on the energy market and also affected American consumers. Therefore, Trump decided to promote the diesel transaction and require Ukraine to unilaterally stop related attacks.
The talks between the United States, Ukrainian and European officials in Miami on the 9th originally focused on promoting a plan to end the Ukrainian-Russian war. Axios pointed out that during the eight-hour meeting between US-Ukrainian representatives, the US informed Trump that it expected to have a phone call with Putin and relax sanctions on Russian diesel exports. A Ukrainian official claimed that U.S. special envoys Weikov and Kushner had threatened that the United States might cut off intelligence support to Ukraine if Ukraine continued to ignore U.S. requests. U.S. officials deny making the threat.
Zelensky criticizes Russian air strikes to celebrate lifting of ban
President Zelenskiy said on the 9th that the diesel agreement was a weak decision that was not worthwhile for the United States and unfair to Ukraine. On the 10th, Russia was criticized again for celebrating the lifting of the Russian oil embargo by carrying out air strikes in Ukraine, killing 15 people.
The European Union and Australia stated on the 10th that lifting sanctions on Russian diesel would fuel Russia's war in Ukraine and had no intention of following suit. Australia announces it will not buy Russian diesel. The German government also said that it will continue to push the EU to impose new sanctions on Russia.
