US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended US President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions restrictions on Russian diesel exports as “very wise,” stating the policy aims to boost global energy supply and stabilize international fuel benchmarks, German news outlet N-TV reported.
Speaking on the administration’s energy and foreign policy strategy, Rubio emphasized that the White House remains focused on mitigating the wider macroeconomic fallout of global conflicts on fuel prices, arguing that the temporary accommodation serves both American and international economic interests.
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“We recognize the impact of this war on the global economy,” Rubio said.
“That is why I consider the president’s decision to temporarily permit additional energy supplies onto the world market to be very wise. This will benefit not only us – though, of course, it will also help the US – but it is also an important factor given high diesel prices worldwide.”
Rubio explained that increasing physical volumes of diesel fuel transiting international maritime trade routes is essential to containing price spikes that have affected transportation networks, agricultural producers, and consumer energy benchmarks across global markets.
Diesel framework
The secretary of state’s remarks follow the announcement of a bilateral commercial diesel arrangement unveiled by the White House following an Oct. 9 telephone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Under the framework, Moscow agreed to deliver commercial diesel fuel onto international markets through 2027 to ease consumer fuel inflation. To facilitate the initial and subsequent shipments, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a temporary general license authorizing transactions involving Russian refined diesel through April 7, 2027.
The commercial arrangement was reinforced on Oct. 16, when Trump signed an executive order invoking Section 115 of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026.
The executive action waived mandatory statutory penalties – including 500 percent tariffs on Russian imports and 100 percent secondary duties on foreign purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas – just 48 hours before the measures were scheduled to take effect.
Rubio previously defended the statutory suspension as an analytical pause of up to 60 days to evaluate the broader economic impact of tariffs and sanctions on global markets and American domestic supply chains, pointing to dependencies among key international partners such as India’s reliance on Russian crude.
Kyiv’s condemnation
The administration’s energy accommodations have provoked a pushback from Ukrainian leadership and bipartisan lawmakers in Washington.
President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized the diesel arrangement and the executive waiver of the Graham Act as grave strategic errors that provide hard-currency revenues directly underwriting the Kremlin’s wartime budget.
Zelensky argued that retail diesel inflation is driven primarily by armed conflict in the Middle East rather than Ukrainian long-range drone interdictions against Russian oil refineries, maintaining that granting Moscow market access signals that attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure carry no economic penalty.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha similarly cautioned that lowering the cost of Russian aggression while Moscow sustains standoff missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s power grid undermines international deterrence ahead of winter.
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