Australia does not ‘need or want Russian fuel’, Chris Bowen says, after Trump deal to buy diesel from Putin

Australia’s energy minister has said Russia “should not be rewarded for their illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine” after the US president, Donald Trump, struck a deal with Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from the country.

The energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, said on Saturday Australia did not “need or want Russian fuel” while updating reporters on the country’s fuel reserves.

Trump wrote on social media on Saturday morning Australian time that after a “highly successful discussion” with Putin, Russia had agreed to immediately supply “300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel” to US and global markets, which would be followed by 500,000 tons in November rising later to 3m tons, depending on “the condition of [Russia’s] diesel refineries”.

The deal was criticised by Democrats and some Republicans. Trump is under political pressure from high diesel prices in the US ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the deal “plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world”.

During a regular Saturday morning press conference to update Australians on the country’s fuel reserves, Bowen, who will lead negotiations at next month’s UN climate talks in Turkey, said: “We don’t need or want Russian fuel in Australia.”

“We have the arrangements in place as best as we possibly can with our trading partners to ensure that Russian fuel doesn’t flow to Australia.

“We do not want Vladimir Putin to benefit from this war in the Middle East. What the United States does is a matter for them. But we won’t be changing our approach.

“We’ll continue to have the very, very firm view that Russia should not be rewarded for their illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine by any arrangements put in place as a result of the Middle East crisis … policies for other countries are a matter for them.”

Uncertainties remain in the Middle East as a result of Trump’s protracted war with Iran. He this week promised he would not launch more attacks on Iran before the midterm elections.

Bowen said the “situation internationally remains difficult” but Australia had 43 days’ worth of petrol and 31 days’ worth of diesel, which was consistent with recent updates.

“We have 51 ships on the way to Australia with fuel, and we have 3.2bn litres of the various types of fuel locked in and contracted to be delivered over the next four weeks.”

Bowen said he had met with senior Saudi Arabian representatives during a meeting in Fiji to prepare for the UN climate talks in Turkey.

“Obviously we continue to see attacks in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “But I do have confidence that the Saudi Arabian government is taking steps to ensure that the fuel is flowing as well as it possibly can be.

“We’ll continue the same approach that we’ve had all through this crisis, working closely with trading partners in south-east Asia and beyond, including India and Saudi Arabia, working very closely with our domestic refiners to ensure that they are working at full pelt.

“And I continue to be in very regular contact with the chief executives of Australia’s domestic refiners.