Author, Madeline Halpert
Published 5 minutes ago
Reading time: 3 minutes
As the war with Iran continues to impact global energy prices, U.S. President Donald Trump plans to import diesel fuel (oil residue) from Russia, but the plan faces growing opposition.
Trump announced on Friday (October 9) that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to immediately release 300,000 tons of diesel "to the U.S. and global markets" and that several other batches of diesel would be released later.
But a few weeks ago, the United States signed legislation authorizing new sanctions and tariffs on countries importing Russian oil and natural gas.
The move was criticized by some Republican and Democratic lawmakers who said the agreement violated the law.
In addition to the initial supply of 300,000 tons of diesel, Trump also said that Russia will supply 1 million tons after supplying 500,000 tons of diesel in November.
An additional 3 million tonnes of oil will be delivered in the "short term", depending on refinery conditions. The refineries have been attacked by Ukraine amid the ongoing war between the two countries.
“Lowering prices for Americans—especially our great farmers, ranchers, and truckers—is my top priority,” Trump wrote in a post on TRUTH Social.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed the figures to the official TASS news agency and said exports could reach 3 million tons per month in the future.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the agreement a great gift to Putin and equivalent to "investing in a war that must end."
It is understood that as part of the agreement, the U.S. Treasury Department will suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April 7, 2027, but other assets such as those deposited in U.S. banks remain frozen.
On Sunday (11th), a seven-member group composed of four Republican senators and three Democratic senators said that the agreement violated U.S. law and urged Trump to "change course."
"The United States should not be providing a financial lifeline to Putin while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians," the lawmakers said.
They added that Congress "has explicitly banned energy imports from Russia in 2022 to prevent U.S. funds from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine."
The statement was signed by Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis, and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden.
Not everyone is opposed to the deal. Republican Thomas Massie, who has disagreed with Trump on many issues, said the United States should lift sanctions on all petroleum products.
Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the agreement will help lower prices through existing legal channels in the United States, and anyone in Congress who says the agreement won't work is wrong.
Global fuel prices have soared since the outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran in late February, which has severely disrupted supplies of crude oil - a key ingredient in gasoline and diesel.
Rising prices have become a key issue for Americans ahead of next month's midterm elections, which will determine whether Trump's Republicans can retain control of Congress.
Polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy and the war with Iran, and he has been looking for ways to ease his party's political woes.
The toll of the war was particularly severe for America's agricultural states, which relied heavily on diesel to operate farm machinery and deliver products to market.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the current average price of diesel in the United States is US$6.28 per gallon (US$1.66 per liter; 11.11 yuan; NT$53.03), down from the all-time high of US$6.53 per gallon set in late September.
Some analysts question whether Russia has the ability to provide such a large amount of diesel and the extent to which doing so can alleviate price pressure on American consumers.
The United States consumes approximately 3.6 million barrels of diesel per day, so even if Russia delivered the promised 300,000 tons of diesel this month, that would only be roughly half of the United States' daily consumption.
