Trump eases sanctions to buy Russian diesel, drawing Kyiv's ire

US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to boost diesel supplies to the United States and global markets. For Kyiv, it looks like Washington switching sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls it a "weak decision on the part of strong partners." Even Republicans are objecting. 

Trump has agreed to buy more than 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel from Russia, the equivalent of about 2.25 million barrels of fuel, with more to come. The US Treasury has eased sanctions to allow it, issuing a license that permits imports through April 7. Zelenskyy said Russia would repay the diesel with "further terror." Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products, he added, amounted to "an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged."

"We count on America's fair support for our defence of life, for our defence of people in Ukraine – and on the United States having a correspondingly strong conversation with Russia. A strong one, not a weak one," he wrote in a social media post.

Republican Don Bacon said the US should be squeezing Russia, not rewarding Putin by giving him more money. 

The deal was announced Friday in a social media post following a phone call between Trump and Putin. Trump said further deliveries, totaling 3 million metric tonnes of diesel, would depend on the condition of Russian refineries, some of which have been damaged by Ukrainian attacks.

He said the agreement would help bring down fuel prices, which have surged amid disruptions to global energy supplies linked to the US-Israeli war with Iran. US diesel prices averaged $6.28 per gallon on Thursday, according to the AAA motorist group.

Putin later said Moscow, despite having imposed a diesel export ban earlier this year, is prepared to resume supplies of oil and petroleum products to the US and other international markets. He gave no specific volume targets.

"Russia-US energy and economic cooperation will continue and benefit global markets and the world," Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Putin, said in a post on X.