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Trump's diesel deal with Russia draws bipartisan Senate condemnation

President waives sanctions on Russian exports while announcing a Ukraine energy ceasefire that Russia appears to have violated.

newest coverage 8h agosummary written 7h ago5 pieces1 comments NewswiresGoogle NewsMastodon

What to know

  • Trump waived sanctions on 300,000 metric tons of Russian diesel exports until spring and announced an energy ceasefire with Ukraine, citing midterm-year concerns about fuel prices.
  • Bipartisan senators condemned the diesel deal as a "financial lifeline" to Putin that contradicts Trump's own recently-signed sanctions law and the 2022 ban on Russian energy imports.
  • Ukraine says Russia violated the ceasefire almost immediately; the deal may apply only to refineries, which Ukraine considers inadequate since it has only one barely-functional refinery and is more concerned about Russia's threats to its power sector.
  • Critics argue the moves send the Kremlin the message that US resolve behind Ukraine is paper-thin, repeating the pattern of accommodation that has historically emboldened Putin.

“Dangling a limited ceasefire deal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can't accept sends the same message to the Kremlin as the diesel deal: Ukrainians are the problem in this war, and US resolve in support of Ukraine is barely paper-thin.”

Tim McDonnell, Semafor energy correspondent · Semafor ↗

Donald TrumpDonald Trump US PresidentVladimir PutinVladimir Putin Russian PresidentVolodymyr ZelenskyyVolodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian PresidentBipartisan group of senators Congressional lawmakersGeoff Pyatt Former State Department energy diplomat

Trump's diesel deal with Russia draws bipartisan Senate condemnation
semafor.com

How it unfolded 0 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump

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  1. upcoming

    Ukraine says Russia violated energy ceasefire almost immediately — A Ukrainian official tells Semafor on Monday that Kyiv was temporarily holding off on long-range drone strikes against Russian refineries while assessing Moscow's behavior, but Russia appears to have violated the ceasefire almost instantly. Reports suggest the deal may apply only to refineries, which would make little sense for Ukraine to accept given it has only one barely-functional refinery.

  2. background

    Bipartisan senators condemn diesel deal as contradiction and 'financial lifeline' — A bipartisan group of senators quickly condemns the diesel waiver, arguing the volume is too small to affect markets (less than one day of US consumption) and extends a financial lifeline to Putin. They note it contradicts both the 2022 Russian energy import ban and the sanctions law Trump signed last month.

  3. background

    Trump announces diesel waiver and energy ceasefire with Russia — Trump waives sanctions on Russian diesel exports, permitting 300,000 metric tons to enter the global market until spring, and announces an energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.