President Trump announced Friday that Russia will supply diesel fuel to the global market, citing the move as a way to reduce record-high diesel prices. The Trump administration directed the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to issue a temporary general license authorizing sanctioned Russian transactions for approximately six months, until April 7. Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 tons in November, then 1 million tons followed by 3 million more pending refinery conditions, according to Trump's announcement.
The agreement drew sharp criticism for contradicting the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which Congress passed and Trump signed into law three weeks earlier. That legislation empowers Trump to impose tariffs up to 100% on major purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas. Scott Lincicome, vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, questioned the contradiction on social media after the announcement. "Congress just passed a law giving Trump the power to impose new tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil & gas. Can America tariff America?" he wrote.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and member of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, accused Trump's move of being "directly contrary to Congress's intent in our bipartisan sanctions bill." Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law Center's Institute of International Economic Law, said the relaxation of Russian diesel restrictions "pretty much proves the point that the Graham Russia Bill was not going to force the Trump Administration to increase economic pressure on Moscow."
Criticism crossed party lines. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, acknowledged understanding Trump's desire to lower diesel prices but expressed concern that lifting sanctions on Russian oil would fund the Kremlin's war effort. "I am concerned the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin's war machine, emboldening more violence and destruction," McCaul said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that easing sanctions on Russia "plays into Russia's hands" and called the move "an obvious weakness" without a "clear and lasting de-escalation agreement" from Russia. "Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged," Zelenskyy said.
Trump thanked Putin for enabling "massive amounts of oil" to reach the U.S. and told reporters the nation needed diesel for global supply. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the agreement's consistency with prior policy.