Trump says Russia will supply diesel to US and world markets before the midterms

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russia had agreed to supply diesel to the United States and to global markets after a telephone call with President Vladimir Putin. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia would immediately provide more than 300,000 metric tons, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons shortly after that. A further 3 million tons could follow, he said, depending on the condition of Russian refineries that Ukrainian attacks have damaged.

The announcement reverses years of US policy aimed at cutting Russian energy revenue after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It comes less than a month before the 3 November midterm elections and after Trump signed a broad Russia sanctions law last month. That law targeted Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers, and banned new US investment in Russia. The Treasury Department has now authorised the sale, delivery and importation of Russian-origin diesel, including into the United States, through 7 April 2027.

US diesel prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on 28 February. The AAA motorist group put the national average at $6.28 a gallon on Thursday, up about 70 percent since the start of that war. Diesel is used in trucking, agriculture and home heating. Trump described lower prices for farmers, ranchers and truckers as his greatest priority and called the agreement a very big announcement.

The first tranche of 300,000 tons equals roughly 2.25 million barrels. The United States exports about 1.5 million barrels of diesel a day, so the immediate volume is a fraction of a single day's export. Analyst Jim Mitchell of Wood Mackenzie said the cargoes were not a fix but another stream into a very tight market. Trump wrote that between US control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Russian diesel the price would come down in record numbers and fast. He did not specify how much of the fuel would land in the United States or how it would be shipped.

The Kremlin said the Russian side had reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and petroleum products to US and global markets. A statement from Putin added that the call had also covered the Ukrainian crisis and the situation around Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said gifts to Putin would not bring peace. The timing is awkward for Kyiv: Ukrainian negotiators were due in the United States on Friday and Saturday, and Zelensky has been pressing Washington for more air defence and expanded Starlink access after Russian strikes killed dozens of civilians in recent days.

The diesel deal sits alongside a separate decision by Trump on Thursday that the United States would not attack Iran before the midterms. Brent crude had risen after reports that the Pentagon was drawing up new strike options. The combination of a pause on Iranian strikes and a release of Russian diesel is intended to ease the fuel-price pressure that has become a liability for Republicans heading into the election. Markets rose on Friday after both announcements.

Whether the volumes move the price at the pump depends on how quickly the fuel can be loaded, insured and delivered under the temporary sanctions relief, and on whether Ukrainian strikes continue to limit Russian refining capacity. Trump said further deliveries would be based on the condition of those refineries. The Treasury's authorisation runs until April 2027, which covers the election and several months beyond it. The political effect is clearer than the physical one: a president who signed sweeping sanctions on Russia last month has now opened a channel for Russian diesel into American and world markets in order to bring prices down before voters go to the polls.