Trump Defends Russian Diesel Deal as Four Republicans and Three Democrats Say It Breaks the Law

Since Trump announced on Friday, Oct. 9, that Vladimir Putin had agreed to ship Russian diesel in exchange for sanctions relief, the pushback in Washington has widened, and the president has dug in rather than backed off.

On Monday morning, Oct. 12, Trump posted on Truth Social: "The European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy, and the Fake News Media doesn't want to get near that story. I made the right choice for the American People."

The $250 billion figure is Trump's own. He gave no breakdown or time period for it.

The legal objection

Seven senators put out a joint statement Sunday, Oct. 11, demanding the administration "immediately reverse course." Four are Republicans: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis. Three are Democrats: Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden.

Their argument is specific. Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022 "to prevent American dollars from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine," they wrote, and Trump's decision "runs directly counter to that law." They also said the administration neither consulted Congress nor submitted the justification the law requires.

"The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians," the statement said.

Tillis, who is retiring after this term, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the deal risks "deadly consequences" by "giving Vladimir Putin any sense that we're going to put our foot on the brakes versus put on our foot on the accelerator." He said it is "tarnishing Lindsey Graham's efforts." Congress passed a Russia sanctions bill spearheaded by Graham last month, and Trump signed legislation authorizing new sanctions and tariffs on buyers of Russian oil and gas just weeks before announcing the diesel deal.

William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told the AP on Monday: "The harm to the Ukrainians is real. And the cost to us, the United States, is high."

The administration's position

Bessent told Fox News the agreement works through legal channels the U.S. already has and that anyone in Congress saying otherwise is wrong. He said Trump came into office with a mandate to work for the American people, and that the diesel purchase serves them.

The deal is not without Republican support. Rep. Thomas Massie, who has sparred with Trump on several issues, said the U.S. should lift sanctions on all petroleum products.

The BBC reported that the Treasury is suspending sanctions on Russian diesel exports until April 7, while other Russian assets, including those in American banks, remain frozen. The administration has not publicly laid out the legal authority behind the suspension beyond Bessent's remarks.

What Trump promised

Trump said Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, another 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." He said a further 3 million tons would follow, depending on the condition of Russian refineries that Ukraine has attacked.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed the figures to the state news agency Tass and said exports could eventually reach 3 million tons a month.

No one outside the two governments has verified that Russia can deliver those volumes. Former U.S. officials told CNN it is unclear Putin has that much diesel to sell. Energy experts quoted by the AP say the flow is unlikely to lower U.S. prices, which have climbed mainly because of disruptions from the war with Iran.

Newsweek reported that Moscow has not yet received any U.S. money under the arrangement.

Fallout over Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal a gift to Putin and "an investment in a war that must be ended."

Trump blamed Zelensky on Saturday for failing to end the war and for rising diesel prices. "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal," he said. "It's time for Ukraine to get a new president."

Zelensky told ABC News on Sunday that if Trump wants Ukraine to hold elections, he should get Putin to agree to a full 60-day ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea and said Putin would be prepared to order no strikes on Ukraine on election day itself. On Monday he also embraced Trump's call for new Ukrainian leadership, saying Zelensky was unwilling to take the hard decisions needed to end the war.

Elections are prohibited under Ukraine's martial law. A September poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found 71 percent of Ukrainians oppose holding a vote now and 24 percent support one.

What comes next

The senators have asked for a reversal, and no one in the administration has said it will comply. The 2022 law's consultation and justification requirements remain the central dispute between the White House and a bipartisan group of senators, and Trump and Bessent have given no sign they accept that reading.

The first 300,000 tons are the first test of whether the volumes Trump announced actually show up, with the November tranche of 500,000 tons due months before the sanctions suspension is set to run out on April 7.