The US and Russia have concluded an agreement on diesel. What about China?

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he had reached an agreement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on diesel supplies. At the same time, the US Treasury Department issued a license under which American sanctions will not apply until April 7, 2027, to Russian diesel loaded onto tankers by Friday.

The Chinese are watching

China is watching the US-Russian agreement with caution. Cui Hongjian from the Beijing University of Foreign Studies, quoted by the Hong Kong daily "South China Morning Post", said that Beijing's current approach comes down to "watching where things will develop".

As the researcher noted, Ukraine and Europe hope that the agreement will turn out to be only a rescue "temporary measure" and not "the first step that will cause a domino effect" in dismantling Western sanctions. He added that the agreement would not directly affect China's trade with Russia, as Moscow still needs Beijing as its main recipient.

Analysts also point out the far-reaching selectivity in Washington's actions. Zhang Chi of the University of Hong Kong called the agreement "self-contradictory." He noted that although the US itself uses Russian diesel oil, the mechanism of secondary sanctions resulting from the Act. Lindsey Graham may still serve as a bargaining chip and a tool to put pressure on other importers, such as China or India.

The expert draws attention to the midterm elections

The intra-American thread was pointed out by Ma Bo from the University of Nanjing. He described the agreement as a "highly transactional matter", dictated by the upcoming midterms in the US and an attempt to limit the losses of the Republican Party.

The expert also warned Asian importers not to treat this agreement as a permanent correction of American policy. He assessed that a possible change in Donald Trump's strategy after the Congressional elections would mean that premature changes in plans "may have the opposite effect to that intended."