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President Donald Trump announced Friday that Russia will supply diesel fuel to the global market, an apparent turn from his administration’s recent campaign to pressure Moscow over the war in Ukraine by restricting Russian energy exports. The shift came with less than a month before an affordability focused midterm election.

Trump said the arrangement would quickly lower record high diesel prices. Critics, however, immediately argued that opening the market to Russian supply clashes with Washington’s recent sanctions policy and with the leverage Congress handed the president only weeks earlier.

The central dispute involves the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which Trump signed into law three weeks before the diesel announcement. The measure authorizes tariffs of up to 100% on leading purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas, along with other restrictions.

“Congress just passed a law giving Trump the power to impose new tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil & gas,” Scott Lincicome, vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, said on X following the announcement.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, called Trump’s action “directly contrary to Congress’s intent in our bipartisan sanctions bill.” Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law, also questioned whether the law would produce additional pressure on Moscow.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Congress gave the president significant authority and leverage against China and Russia to help bring Putin’s war to a negotiated end. He said he understood the desire to reduce diesel prices but feared that lifting restrictions on Russian oil would fund the Kremlin’s war machine.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s questions about the agreement. Less than a year earlier, the Trump administration had sanctioned several Russian oil companies over what it described as Russia’s failure to show a serious commitment to a peace process ending the Ukraine war.

Trump had also criticized NATO allies for purchasing Russian oil. In a September 2025 Truth Social post, he wrote, “the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”

Later that month, Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that countries buying Russian energy were financing a war against themselves. “They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia,” he said.

Trump unveiled the diesel arrangement after what he described as a “highly successful discussion” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November and another 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”

The agreement could include another 3 million tons depending on refinery conditions, according to Trump. The Treasury Department said he directed the Office of Foreign Assets Control to issue a temporary general license permitting Russian diesel supplies to reach the global market.

OFAC said the sanctioned transactions would be authorized for about six months, until April 7. An X account associated with Putin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev welcomed the announcement, saying, “Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply objected, saying the easing of sanctions “plays into Russia’s hands.” He argued that allowing Russia to sell petroleum products amounted to an investment in prolonging the war rather than ending it.

“Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness,” Zelenskyy said. He also called for fair American support for Ukraine and a correspondingly strong United States conversation with Russia.

Trump later thanked Putin for allowing “massive amounts of oil” to come to the United States. Speaking to reporters before traveling to Syracuse, New York, Trump said the world needed oil and diesel and that he was pleased to obtain it.

The administration previously issued limited 30 day waivers permitting countries to purchase sanctioned Russian oil already in transit after the Iran war began. Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, called the latest arrangement a temporary fix and said easing sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an unfortunate consequence.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.