Six U.S. senators from both ruling and opposition parties oppose Trump's 'Russian transit deal'... “Give money to Putin”

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi = Six senators from the ruling and opposition parties of the U.S. Congress opposed President Donald Trump's plan to import Russian diesel and called for its immediate withdrawal.

According to the Associated Press, these lawmakers issued a joint statement on the 11th (local time) and said, "The United States should not provide a financial lifeline to Putin at a time when Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians."

They also pointed out that the administration is pursuing diesel imports without consulting Congress as required by law or providing explanations to justify the decision.

Republican Reps. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and John Curtis (Utah), and Democratic Reps. Gene Shaheen (New Hampshire) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) participated in the statement.

Representative Tillis said in an interview with NBC that day that there are sufficient grounds to claim that the president is violating the law if the administration goes ahead with the diesel purchase plan.

Previously, President Trump announced on the 9th that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets, 500,000 tons in November and an additional 1 million tons thereafter. To this end, measures to ease sanctions against Russia were also announced, such as allowing the import of Russian diesel into the United States.

President Trump's announcement came about three weeks after Congress passed a bill to strengthen sanctions against Russia on the 16th of last month, imposing tariffs of up to 100% on major importers of Russian oil and gas.

This bill was designed to make it difficult for Russia to finance the war in Ukraine by blocking the revenue it earns from oil and gas exports.

In a statement, six senators also emphasized that Congress had explicitly banned U.S. imports of Russian energy to prevent Russia from financing its war in 2022.

They criticized, "Congress has made clear that the United States should not import Russian oil until Russia stops its invasion of Ukraine and stops threatening its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies," and added, "President Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel to be imported into the United States is in direct violation of this law."

However, within the Republican Party, there were voices defending President Trump.

Senator John Berrasso (Wyoming) appeared on CBS and said that President Trump is focusing on lowering energy costs, saying, "The president is having to weigh many aspects and make difficult decisions."

He also argued that the Russian diesel deal could be a bargaining chip to pressure President Putin to find a long-term solution to the war in Ukraine.