A tanker carrying 40,000 metric tons of Russian diesel has set sail for New York under a deal between Washington and Moscow, with the shipment set to arrive on Nov. 7 – four days after the US mid-term elections.
The Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes loaded ultra-low-sulfur diesel at Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk on Thursday, Oct. 22, Reuters reported, citing LSEG shipping data. It added that the shipment’s due in the US on Nov. 7.
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US President Donald Trump has sought to reduce diesel prices before the Nov. 3 midterms to help his party win the by waiving parts of a new sanctions law against Russia. He also threatened to ban US diesel exports unless European countries release more emergency reserves.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, Oct. 21, that the first tanker under the Kremlin’s diesel agreement with the White House would sail in two to three days.
First cargo is a fraction of Trump’s initial pledge
The shipment is about 13 percent of the initial 300,000 metric tons (about 330,700 US tons) Trump said Russia would release immediately under the agreement.
Trump announced the arrangement on Oct. 9, saying larger volumes would follow in November and afterward. He claimed the deal would bring down fuel prices for US farmers, truckers and consumers.
Putin said Russia was preparing several tankers, suggesting the first cargo would be part of a wider series of shipments.
The timing he gave refers to departure, rather than delivery to a US buyer. Shipping and unloading would still have to take place after the vessel sails.
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While Trump initially boasted of up to 2 million tons of Russian diesel to the world market upon announcing the deal, a Russian minister raised the figure to 3.5 million tons by year-end in a later remark.
Kyiv Post recently estimated that the planned 300,000-ton shipments to the US would last a bit over half a day, based on known consumption data. Ukraine’s sanctions envoy, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said the 40,000-ton shipment would last less than two hours.
Sanctions relief draws criticism from Kyiv, US Congress
The diesel agreement has become a source of friction between Washington and Kyiv.
After Trump announced the deal, the US Treasury authorized transactions involving Russian diesel through April 7, 2027, easing restrictions imposed over Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump later signed an Oct. 16 executive order waiving sweeping new Russia-related sanctions and tariffs shortly before they were scheduled to take effect.
The suspended measures included additional 500% tariffs on Russian imports and 100% duties targeting major buyers of Russian oil and gas.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the diesel arrangement and broader sanctions relief, arguing that additional energy revenues would help Russia finance its war rather than persuade Putin to stop it.
Opposition has also come from US lawmakers. A bipartisan group of 12 senators urged Trump to rescind the diesel agreement, warning that it would reward Moscow while offering limited relief to Americans.
The senators called for stronger enforcement of economic pressure on Russia as attacks on Ukraine continued.
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