Trump announces Russian diesel deal; US Treasury eases sanctions until April
President Trump said Vladimir Putin agreed to release more than 4 million tonnes of diesel to world markets, and the US Treasury issued a temporary licence suspending sanctions on Russian diesel until 7 April 2027.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday, 9 October, that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in a phone call to release Russian diesel to “the American and global marketplace”, BBC, AP and CNBC reported.
The volumes Trump announced
- more than 300,000 tonnes immediately;
- 500,000 tonnes in November;
- 1 million tonnes after that;
- a further 3 million tonnes later, depending on the condition of Russian refineries, which Ukraine has been striking with drones.
Shortly afterwards the US Treasury’s sanctions office (OFAC) issued a temporary general licence allowing Russian diesel to be supplied to the global market until 7 April 2027. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told TASS that Moscow would lift its own diesel export restrictions ahead of schedule. Putin’s statement confirmed readiness to supply oil and oil products but gave no figures.
Why it matters
Diesel prices have surged worldwide because of the Iran war and attacks on refineries. The US average was $6.28 a gallon, according to AAA (cited by the BBC), just below the record $6.53 at the end of September. Some analysts doubted the effect: Quilter Cheviot’s Tim Armitage told the BBC the first tranche is roughly 2.25 million barrels against US daily consumption of about 3.8 million barrels, so it “won’t make a material difference” to pump prices.
The move reverses recent US policy: Congress had just passed, and Trump signed, legislation authorising sanctions on buyers of Russian oil and gas. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal a gift to Putin.
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