Trump authorises Russian diesel trade through April 2027

• The US Treasury has authorised covered transactions involving Russian-origin diesel, including its import into the United States, until 7 April 2027.
• Trump said Russia would supply several million tons for the American and global markets, but named no US buyers or US share.
• Moscow confirmed it was ready to supply oil and petroleum products; a senior Russian official said diesel export restrictions were being lifted.
• Volodymyr Zelensky said his team was not told a diesel deal was on the table during talks with US envoys in Miami.

The legal change is real; the shipments are not yet established. On Friday, 9 October, President Donald Trump announced that Vladimir Putin had agreed to send more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tons in November, one million tons after that and a further three million tons “within a short period of time”. Trump described the destination as the American and global marketplace, not the United States alone.¹

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General Licence 135 that day. It authorises transactions otherwise prohibited under two specified US sanctions regulations when they relate to the sale, delivery, unloading or import of Russian diesel. The licence includes imports into the United States and runs until 7 April 2027. It does not permit debits from accounts at US financial institutions belonging to Russia’s central bank, National Wealth Fund or finance ministry.²

The licence creates a route for the trade; it does not require Russia to send fuel or assign any of it to American buyers. The White House did not tell the Associated Press who would pay or when the diesel might arrive. Trump’s quantities and timetable therefore remain announced terms, not confirmed deliveries.¹

Moscow’s public account was broader and less specific. Putin said Russia was ready to supply oil and petroleum products to US and global markets. Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state news agency Tass that Moscow was lifting diesel export restrictions ahead of schedule and could begin supplies to the United States in October, the AP reported.¹

The announcement came as Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian negotiators and European officials in Miami to discuss ending the war. Zelensky told Axios he had not been told a diesel deal was on the table. His negotiators told him about an hour before Trump’s statement that the president planned to speak with Putin and might announce a change to US sanctions. Zelensky said he would have supported easing energy sanctions as part of an agreement to stop attacks on energy facilities on both sides.³

The move reverses the US ban on Russian oil and gas imports imposed after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It also comes weeks after Trump signed a sanctions law aimed at Russian energy revenues. The new licence authorises specified diesel transactions under two sanctions regulations; it does not erase every US restriction on Russia.¹²

Trump said lower prices for Americans were his priority. US diesel averaged $6.28 a gallon on 9 October, according to figures cited by the AP. Energy specialists interviewed by the news agency said Russian supplies might do little to lower prices: fuel sent to the US could simply leave other buyers seeking replacement supplies. They said Russia could benefit by gaining revenue from exports.¹⁴

The war continued as the policy changed. On Saturday, Zelensky said Russian strikes had killed at least 12 people in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, including three children; the AP reported at least 14 others wounded.⁵

Footnotes

1. Associated Press, “Trump strikes deal with Putin to get diesel in sharp reversal of US policy weeks before midterms” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. US Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, General Licence 135 ↩ ↩²

3. Axios, “Exclusive: Zelensky tells Axios Trump’s diesel deal with Putin ‘not fair and not honest’” ↩

4. Associated Press, “Boosting US oil supplies with Russian diesel unlikely to have much impact on prices, experts say” ↩

5. Associated Press, “Russian attacks kill 12 in Ukraine after Trump strikes diesel deal with Putin” ↩