Bessent says there was no sanctions relief for Russia after U.S. diesel deal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said President Trump did not provide Russia with sanctions relief by waiving sanctions against Russia set to take effect soon, after signing off on a deal that allows Russia to permit diesel into the U.S. and global marketplace.

NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” pressed Bessent on Trump’s waiver and asked what Russian President Vladimir Putin has “done to deserve sanctions relief now.”

“Well, first of all Kristen, that’s not true. No sanctions were lifted on Friday. No sanctions were lifted,” Bessent answered.

Welker asked if U.S. sanctions on Russia will be lifted.

“There is a 60-day period so we can examine what’s going on,” the Treasury secretary said. “The only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo. And, I will point out –– the U.K. in May waived their embargo on diesel and jet fuel made with Russian crude. So, you know, where’s the outrage for the rest of the world?”

Bessent accused Ukraine’s European partners of “financing the Russian war machine,” adding that European countries import 10 times more than the $4 billion that the U.S. imports from Russian products.

He said it was a “false binary” to say the U.S. is siding with Russia in its war with Ukraine, which the U.S. has pledged support for since Russia invaded in 2022.

When asked by Welker if the U.S. is still an ally to Ukraine, Bessent said Trump seeks to bring the war to an end.

And [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky presents a false binary this morning that Ukraine must win,” Bessent said, referring to Welker’s earlier interview with Zelensky in the broadcast. “The war must end, and that will be with some kind of a negotiated settlement, and President Trump is working on that every day. He’s done it since he came into office.”

Welker asked Bessent the same question two more times, prompting Bessent to say that “I’m not the secretary of state. I’m not the president.”

Trump officially signed a sanctions package into law last month. It seeks to put pressure on the Kremlin to end its years-long military operations against Ukraine by imposing tariffs on top Russian energy purchasers and those who help the country evade sanctions.

The waiver comes after the diesel deal, part of the administration’s efforts to lower fuel prices, which have risen amid the U.S.’s war in Iran. Both the deal and the waiver come weeks before the November midterm elections.

But Trump’s deal sparked backlash from bipartisan members of Congress. Five Republican lawmakers joined their Democratic colleagues to denounce the relief. Bessent was copied, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the lawmakers’ letter urging Trump to reconsider.

One of the lawmakers, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said separately that he understands Trump’s intent to lower diesel fuel prices, but said he was “concerned” that the deal “will only fuel the Kremlin’s violence and destruction.”