Trump strikes deal with Putin to get diesel in sharp reversal of US
policy weeks before midterms
[October 10, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and COLLIN BINKLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he has struck a deal to
obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure
on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel
prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump said on social media on Friday that he struck the deal with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call in which he was
expected to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia. Instead, Trump
announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of
diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million
tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3
million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.
Trump’s shocking announcement was in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia
sanctions law he signed last month that aimed at clamping down on the
oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia's war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a weak decision,
unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners," according to a
statement released by the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
Trump announced the deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared
Kushner were meeting with Ukrainian officials in Miami to discuss a
proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
“I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is
certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each
other,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump's move casts doubt on the likelihood of the White House imposing
new sanctions on Russia, given that the law that passed overwhelmingly
by Congress directs the administration to target countries that purchase
Russian oil and gas. Lawmakers this week had urged the Trump
administration to act quickly to use the tools available to help
Ukraine.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen,
who is the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen.
Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Banking Committtee, called
Trump’s announcement a betrayal of Ukraine, the European allies and U.S.
national security.
“Enough is enough,” the senators wrote. “The President must end his war
with Iran instead of funding Russia’s war machine.”
Gas prices globally have surged as the war in Iran upends the energy
sector. While diesel future prices dipped on the news on Friday, the
national average for a gallon of diesel in the U.S. remained high at
$6.28, according to AAA, after hitting a record $6.52 on Sept. 22.
Trump did not address the sanctions or Russia’s war but said, “Lower
prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and
Truckers, is my Greatest Priority.”
Trump said later as he left the White House for a campaign rally that he
was thankful for the deal. "I want to thank President Putin. To be
honest with you, we have massive amounts of oil coming into our country,
and it’s diesel, which is what we want. So, thank you," Trump said. He
did not answer shouted questions about the criticism from Zelenskyy.
Washington and Moscow offer few details on deal
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about who was
paying for the Russian diesel or when it would become available.
A statement from Putin, released by the Kremlin on Friday, said during
their call he and Trump dedicated “significant attention to the
prospects of resolving the Ukrainian crisis” and also discussed “the
situation around Iran and various aspects of bilateral relations.”
Russia “confirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to the
American and global markets,” Putin said. “I am confident that this will
have a positive impact on the entire global economy.”
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, speaking later to reporters,
wouldn't say whether the U.S. made any concessions in exchange for the
supplies, or what, if anything, was promised to Russia in exchange.
Trump and Putin's deal draws immediate backlash
Zelenskyy, in a lengthy post online reacting to the deal, said Russia
would repay it “with further terror and perfidy.” He cast it as an
investment in the war, allowing it to be prolonged.
“It plays into Russia’s hands — allowing it to kill more, wage war for
longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater
losses and damage on the world,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who co-sponsored the Russia
sanctions law, said Trump's decision “makes us complicit in Putin’s war
against Ukraine." In his scathing statement, Blumenthal invoked the
memory of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and Russia hawk, for whom
the law is named.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the extended format meeting
at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in
Turkmenbasy, Turkmenistan, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov,
Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“This agreement with a murdering dictator is a stain on our nation’s
character, an insult to Lindsey Graham’s memory, and directly
contrary to Congress’s intent in our bipartisan sanctions bill," he
said.
Rep. Don Beyer, the senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic
Committee, called Trump’s announcement “infuriating.”
“This is what we warned anyone who would listen: Trump isn’t the
slightest bit trustworthy when it comes to Russia,” Beyer said in a
statement on X.
The law Trump signed last month envisions sanctions on Russian
officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers and bans all new U.S.
investment in Russia and the handling of sovereign debt.
It also directed Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top
five importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for
countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports
and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports.
The U.S. has not imported Russian oil or gas since 2022, when the
Biden administration banned the imports because of Moscow’s invasion
of Ukraine, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Treasury Department moves to ease diesel sanctions for six months
Shortly after Trump made the announcement, the Treasury Department
said it was immediately issuing a temporary license allowing Russian
diesel to be supplied to the global market.
This is the latest license the U.S. Treasury has issued regarding
Russian fuel shipments since the start of the Iran war early this
year. But it is the first to ease sanctions on diesel for longer
than the standard 30-day window since the start of the Ukraine war
in February 2022.
The license means U.S. sanctions will not apply until April 2027 on
deliveries of Russian diesel that has been loaded onto tankers as of
Friday.
The extensions underscore how the fallout from the Iran war has
boosted Moscow’s ability to profit from its energy exports.
It's unclear how the move will impact oil prices
"What does this do to prices? I think probably not much,” said
Clayton Seigle, an energy strategist and expert at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
But, Seigle said the new deal is a “great benefit to Russia and to
Putin,” who are currently trying to offload their summer-grade
diesel for the heavier winter and arctic grades that they will need
in the coming months.
“It’s kind of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Michael
Lynch of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, a non-partisan
research institution focused on energy and economics.
“If we get diesel from Russia, basically it means that their
existing customers are not going to get it and they’ll have to go
somewhere else, and that will keep the price basically where it is
now,” Lynch said.
Russia, once a major exporter of diesel, has banned exports since
July as it has struggled to meet demand inside the country because
of Ukraine’s repeated attacks on Russian oil refineries. The
International Energy Agency says Russian diesel output has fallen by
about 30%.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state news agency
Tass that Russia is “immediately starting to lift restrictions on
diesel exports ahead of schedule.” He said Moscow could start
supplies to the U.S. this month and Russia’s domestic market will be
“fully supplied” with diesel, as well.
___
Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Konstantin Toropin and Lisa
Mascaro in Washington, Alex Veiga in Los Angeles and Farnoush Amiri
in New York contributed to this report.
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