Trump’s new diesel deal with Russia is ‘shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic’, experts say

Donald Trump’s new deal with Russia to boost diesel supply over the next few months is unlikely to make a dent in high prices, experts have said.

The US president said he had made an agreement with Vladimir Putin to increase fuel supplies to the US and global markets, saying the move would help bring down costs for businesses and consumers.

He said the US would lift sanctions on Russian fuel to allow the deal.

Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel, followed by further shipments in November and beyond. His administration also temporarily eased sanctions on Russian fuel, reversing a policy intended to deprive Moscow of revenue for its war against Ukraine.

The national average for a gallon of diesel in the US hit a record high of $6.53 on 22 September. Diesel prices have hit records in Europe, too.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, said the the agreement is “not fair and not honest” and amounted to a gift for Putin, who turned 74 this week.

“You know, it looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible,” Zelensky said.

In Kyiv, people gathered at a memorial to fallen soldiers on Independence Square greeted the deal with a mix of anger and resignation.

“Trump has once again shown his true face,” said Oleksandr Petrenko, 26. “He didn’t care about the situation, the shelling or the destruction of our homes. All he’s interested in is oil or the fuel prices and how much Americans have to pay.”

“Knowing Trump, he tries to manipulate the markets. He’s got an election coming up soon,” Petrenko said. “So he needs to emphasize to his voters that gasoline will be cheap. But it won’t be effective.”

Senior policy experts have suggested the move from Trump is unlikely to have a significant impact on oil prices in the US or globally.

Michael Lynch, a fellow at the Energy Policy Research Foundation, said: “It’s kind of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

“If we get diesel from Russia, basically it means that their existing customers are not going to get it and they’ll have to go somewhere else, and that will keep the price basically where it is now.”

Mr Lynch said: “The best you could hope for is a tiny dip in prices locally in places like the New York-New Jersey area, Philadelphia maybe.”

Meanwhile, Gregory Brew, an analyst with Eurasia Group’s Energy, Climate & Resources team, said in an email quoted in CNN that the deal would be “a band-aid, nothing more.”

Britain pledged to “maintain pressure on Russia” through “the toughest sanctions regime” it had ever imposed.

A government spokesperson said: “We will continue working closely with international partners to ensure Ukraine has the military and financial support it needs to defend itself.

“We will also maintain pressure on Russia through the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed by the UK, increasing the cost of Putin’s aggression and supporting efforts to secure a just and lasting peace.”