United States: Democratic and Republican elected officials consider the diesel agreement between Washington and Moscow contrary to the law

Democratic and Republican elected officials on Sunday questioned the legality of the agreement between Washington and Moscow on the delivery of Russian diesel, saying that it contravened a law of the American Congress.

American President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he had negotiated the delivery of massive quantities of Russian diesel to the American and world markets, to do so lifting sanctions weighing on Moscow, to the great dismay of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who denounced an “unworthy” decision.

“President Trump's decision to authorize imports of Russian diesel into the United States goes directly against the law,” said seven senators, including four from Donald Trump's Republican Party, referring to a law adopted by Congress in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and which prohibits the import of Russian energy.

“Congress has been clear: the United States must not import oil from Russia until Russia ends its aggression against Ukraine and stops making threats against our NATO allies,” these senators, including Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Thom Tillis, wrote in a statement.

Asked about this on the Fox News channel on Sunday, Finance Minister Scott Bessent indicated that the American government intended to “act using all the legal powers at our disposal”. “So, know that anyone in Congress who claims (...) that this is forbidden to us is wrong,” he said, emphasizing that by lowering the price of diesel, President Trump was acting in “the interest of the American people”.