President Trump announced Friday that the United States will buy millions of tons of diesel fuel from Russia, a sharp reversal weeks after Washington tightened the screws on Moscow’s energy money.
Trump said on Truth Social that he had a “highly successful discussion” with Vladimir Putin. Russia would immediately ship more than 300,000 tons of diesel, then 500,000 tons in November and a million tons right after, with another 3 million to follow depending on the condition of Russia’s refineries. By Friday evening, the Treasury Department had issued a temporary license letting American companies buy and sell Russian diesel through next April without fear of U.S. sanctions.
Later Friday, as he left the White House for a campaign rally in Syracuse, Trump thanked Putin on camera for the deal.
The about-face is the story. Three weeks ago Congress voted to let Washington punish countries that buy Russian oil and gas. Now the White House is buying Russian fuel itself, with diesel sitting at $6.28 a gallon nationally and the midterms landing November 3.
Volodymyr Zelensky did not hold back. The Ukrainian president called the move a “weak decision” and told Axios it “looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible.” On X he warned that Russia will repay the diesel with “further terror.”
“It looks like a happy birthday present for Putin. It looks absolutely terrible.”
Volodymyr Zelensky, to Axios
The fine print is where it gets shaky. Putin’s own statement named no volumes and no dates, only a “readiness to supply” oil and petroleum products. Analysts are openly skeptical Russia can move the fuel at all: Moscow still had a diesel export ban on the books, and Ukrainian strikes have battered its refineries. The White House has not said who is paying for the shipments or when the first tanker arrives.
Punish the buyers, then become the buyer. Nothing moves faster than a pump price.
SEE ALSO: Mamdani Called Trump to Try to Get the Wounded Bronx Shooting Suspect Released. Trump Said No. | Anti-ICE Protesters Rammed Cops With Barricades After the Bronx Shooting