12 US senators, including 6 Republicans, urge Trump to rescind Russia diesel deal

Twelve U.S. senators, half of them Republicans, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday asking him to rescind his diesel oil deal with Russia, according to CBC News. The request lands days before an Oct. 18 deadline for his administration to decide whether to impose sweeping new sanctions and tariffs on Russian energy over the war in Ukraine, or waive them on national-interest grounds. The administration has not yet told lawmakers which path it will take.

The lawmakers argued in the letter that the agreement gives Russian President Vladimir Putin's government more fuel revenue to finance its war and will not benefit Americans. They also said granting Moscow the ability to sell diesel freely in global markets harms U.S. security interests and amounts to a betrayal of Ukraine. The letter urged Trump to use the sanctions authorities in the law he signed last month, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, named for the late senator who died in July.

Trump announced the deal on Friday, saying he was lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports and that Moscow would immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons, or 2.25 million barrels, of diesel to U.S. and global markets. He framed the move as a way to reduce prices. U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows the U.S. transport sector alone burns about 2.94 million barrels per day, meaning the volume Trump cited is less than a day's supply for that sector.

The Republican signatories were Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Alan Armstrong of Oklahoma, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Cornyn of Texas. The Democratic signers were Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Chris Coons of Connecticut. The pushback marks a shift from what had been near-unanimous Republican support for Trump's foreign policy, weeks before Nov. 3 midterm elections that will decide whether the party keeps control of Congress.

Collins, Murkowski and Tillis had already joined Democrats in a joint statement on Sunday urging Trump to reverse course, saying the deal conflicts with U.S. law barring energy imports until Russia ends its aggression against Ukraine. Asked on Tuesday whether anyone had told him Russia could use diesel proceeds to buy more bombs, Trump said nobody had told him anything and added that the deal benefits both the U.S. and the world.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Monday that Russia would be able to return diesel exports to levels above those Trump outlined. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the two countries have been in a state of all-out war since.