President Trump announced on October 9 that, after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Russia would "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets, followed by 500,000 tons in November, 1 million tons after that, and another 3 million tons depending on the condition of Russia's refineries. Within minutes, the Treasury Department issued a license suspending U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel until April 7, 2027. Trump says the goal is cheaper fuel, especially for "our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers," and that prices will come down "in record numbers and fast." Energy analysts interviewed by the Associated Press and NPR expect little change at the pump. The deal has also split Trump's own party: seven senators, four of them Republicans, say it violates the 2022 law that banned Russian energy imports, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the administration is acting within "all the legal authorities we have."
What the license allows
The Treasury's sanctions office, OFAC, issued General License 135 the same day. It authorizes otherwise-banned transactions "related to the sale, delivery, offloading, or importation, including importation into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin," through 12:01 a.m. on April 7, 2027. It does not allow payments out of U.S. accounts held by Russia's central bank, its National Wealth Fund or its finance ministry. According to the AP, it is the first license easing sanctions on Russian diesel for longer than the usual 30 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The United States has not imported Russian oil or gas since that year, the AP reported, citing the Energy Information Administration.
Moscow's description was more general than Trump's. The Kremlin said Russia "confirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to the American and global markets." For deliveries to happen at all, Russia first has to lift its own ban on diesel exports, which it imposed after Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries caused fuel shortages at home this summer, NPR reported. The White House did not immediately answer the AP's questions about who would pay for the fuel or when it would arrive.
Will it lower prices?
Diesel averaged $6.28 a gallon nationally as the deal was announced, according to AAA, after a record $6.52 on September 22. Prices have climbed worldwide because Ukraine has hit Russian refineries, forcing Moscow to halt exports, and because the war with Iran has disrupted fuel supplies in the Middle East; NPR's Moscow correspondent said most experts see Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz as the main cause. Analysts doubt Russian barrels change that much. "What does this do to prices? I think probably not much," Clayton Seigle, an energy strategist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the AP, adding that the deal is a "great benefit to Russia and to Putin." Michael Lynch of the Energy Policy Research Foundation said: "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." Trump has stood by the decision: "I made the right choice for the American People—always America first."
Is it legal?
On October 11, Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis joined Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden in a statement: "Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine." The decision "runs directly counter to that law," they wrote, and "the Administration has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute." Tillis told NBC's "Meet the Press": "I do believe there's a legitimate case for saying the president's not following the law." Collins added that she co-sponsored the new Russia sanctions law Trump signed in September, "but is now not following." The administration rejects that reading. "We're doing it with all the legal authorities we have, so anyone in Congress who says that—whether it's an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill—prohibits us from doing it, is wrong," Bessent told Fox News. Sen. John Barrasso, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, defended the president, saying he "has to make tough decisions." No court has ruled on the question.
Ukraine and the allies
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the deal immediately. "Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world," he wrote. "Russia will 'repay' the diesel with further terror and perfidy." He called it "a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners." Trump, asked about the criticism, told reporters "it's time for Ukraine to get a new President." On October 11, Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy cease-fire "effective immediately"; the next day Zelensky reported overnight Russian strikes that hit energy facilities and said, "So there were Russian violations of the energy cease-fire announced by President Trump." Sweden's prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said he regretted the deal because "energy revenues are central to the Russian war chest," and Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, told Zelensky the agreement "is in direct opposition to the efforts of Ukraine, Canada, and our allies to create peace and stability in Europe."
Sources: U.S. Treasury, OFAC General License No. 135, October 9, 2026; CNBC, October 9; NPR, October 10; Associated Press via 1News, October 10; Sen. Susan Collins, bipartisan statement, October 11; NBC News, October 11; TIME, October 12.
