IQN (NewsDesk): US President Donald Trump has announced a deal to bring Russian diesel into the American market as he faces growing pressure to bring down fuel prices, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately to the American and global marketplace, followed by a further 500,000 tonnes in November and another million tonnes after that. Shortly after the announcement, the US Treasury issued a temporary licence allowing Russian diesel into the market, effectively suspending sanctions on those exports.
Zelensky condemned the decision, calling it a gift to Putin and describing it as an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. He added that Russia would repay the diesel with further terror against Ukraine. In an interview after the announcement, he said he had been blindsided by the deal and called it not fair and not honest.
A US official told Axios that Trump decided to make the deal after Zelensky ignored half a dozen American requests to stop Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Those strikes have caused severe fuel shortages inside Russia, and the International Energy Agency estimates Russian diesel production has fallen by nearly 30 percent. Trump has blamed the refinery attacks for rising fuel prices.
Putin confirmed he had spoken to Trump about the global energy situation and said Russia was willing to supply oil and petroleum products to the US and world markets. Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Putin, welcomed the deal, saying cooperation on diesel and energy would benefit the world. How the arrangement will affect fuel prices remains unclear.
