A bipartisan group of 12 US senators signed a joint letter on Tuesday, Oct. 13, urging US President Donald Trump to rescind his diesel agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a gift to Moscow and a betrayal of Ukraine.
The letter, led by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, was signed by six Republican and six Democratic senators. The Republican senators include Thom Tillis, Susan M. Collins, Alan Stuart Armstrong, Lisa Murkowski, Christopher A. Coons and John Cornyn. Blumenthal was joined on the Democratic side by Jeanne Shaheen, Richard J. Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jack Reed and Mitch McConnell.
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“This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded,” the senators wrote.
What the letter entails
The senators reaffirmed their support toward ending Russia’s war, arguing that any peace must uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. In their view, the deal fails that test and does very little for Americans.
They took aim at the Treasury Department’s General License No. 135, which formally lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports immediately after Trump arranged the deal with the Kremlin.
The license, they wrote, “only provides Putin with more fuel to finance his war machine and enables Russia to continue its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”
While the lawmakers did acknowledge the pressure on US fuel prices from the war with Iran, they said Russian diesel would offer “limited to no relief” to American citizens.
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The revenue, they warned, would instead fund Moscow’s war effort, deepen its security ties with China, Iran and North Korea, and endanger US troops deployed in Operation Epic Fury.
The letter also reminded Trump that he signed the sweeping Lindsey Graham sanctions into law, after it passed both chambers with broad bipartisan support.
The law, signed just three weeks before Trump struck a deal with Putin, requires him to apply significant economic pressure on Russia and its main backers, particularly China.
“Putin is a tyrant. Withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,” the senators wrote.
Blumenthal said that the deal rewards the Kremlin and noted that Putin’s response to Trump’s proposed energy infrastructure truce would be the first test of peace efforts.
“Once again, he’s playing Trump for a fool & hoping to weaponize a freezing, starving, bloody winter against Ukraine,” he wrote on X, as Russia continued striking Ukraine’s power grid and civilian infrastructure nationwide.
The abrupt diesel deal
Trump announced the agreement following a telephone call with Putin on Oct. 9, saying Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to US and global markets, followed by 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons after that.
The Treasury Department then authorized the sale and import of Russian diesel through April 7, 2027.
Analysts have questioned whether Russia can deliver the promised volumes, with its refineries running at about 60% of capacity after repeated Ukrainian drone strikes.
Ukraine and its Western allies condemned the move, calling it a mistake. “Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The deal was announced while the Ukrainian delegation was in Miami, hoping to reach a breakthrough in ending Russia’s war with senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Steve Kushner.
During the meeting, Witkoff and Kushner reportedly warned Ukrainian negotiators that Washington could restrict intelligence sharing if Kyiv kept striking Russian oil refineries.
Those concerns grew after Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv late on Monday, when Zelensky said Ukraine had received no advance warning of the launches from its partners.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the next day that intelligence cooperation with Washington continues, attributing the delayed alert to the type of weapon Russia used.
On Tuesday, Trump denied claims that Washington has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. “No, we haven’t,” he said, adding “We are helping them.”
The US had reportedly also raised the possibility of limiting weapons purchases through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), under which European allies buy American arms for Ukraine.
US NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker later said confirmed that there had been “no change” to deliveries through the mechanism.
Around the same time, Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, despite neither Kyiv nor Moscow confirming any agreement and Russian strikes continuing against Ukrainian facilities.
“They agreed because I said they agreed, and that thing has to get settled,” he said on Monday, speaking to reporters outside the White House before departing for Ohio.