Trump wants to buy diesel from Russia to bring down fuel prices for American drivers. But can a deal with Vladimir Putin fix an energy crunch when Russia is still bombing Ukraine, Congress has already restricted Russian fuel, and the biggest disruption to global supplies is happening thousands of miles away? That is plenty for one deal to solve.
The US midterm elections will be coming up next month, and increasing energy prices are damaging Trump’s position. The Trump administration has temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel. Other outcomes may include the US government giving money to Russia as its army attacks Ukraine.
The diesel deal runs into a problem called US law
Republican Senator Thom Tillis is among those questioning whether Trump can legally reopen this trade. On Sunday’s NBC Meet the Press, Thom questioned the president’s authority.
“I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” Tillis said.
A 2022 executive order blocked imports of Russian energy products. Another law signed last month, named for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, prohibits American investment in Russia’s energy sector. A sanctions waiver cannot automatically erase either restriction.
“If the president wants my support, which I believe he should get for funding military operations and year-end funding beyond baseline funding, I think the president needs to understand this is a problem, and I’m not the only Republican concerned with this,” Tillis said.
Other senators demanded a reversal, warning against funding Russia while civilians die. Retiring Republican Representative Don Bacon objected Friday.
“Propping up Putin’s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities.”
Senator John Barrasso said Trump is trying to reduce energy costs while navigating international tensions. John argued that the president could also use pressure on Moscow to negotiate a longer-term settlement, although he urged the administration to enforce the sanctions Congress passed last month.
“The president is balancing and has to make tough decisions,” Barrasso said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “We’re going to do it with all the legal authorities we have.”
Russia is hardly making the ceasefire pitch easier
The economic reason is flawed as well because analysts do not foresee the effect of Russian diesel leading to an enduring decrease in price. In this current year, the main part of the fuel crisis was a result of the Israel-US attack on Iran, starting from February. Iran then limited the traffic movement in the Strait of Hormuz, a channel important for energy shipments.
Trump announced an energy ceasefire over the weekend, claiming Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop striking each other’s power and fuel infrastructure. Neither side independently confirmed the agreement. It was his second unconfirmed ceasefire announcement in weeks.
By Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was reporting something very different. Russian attacks overnight and into the morning had hit at least six energy-related sites across Ukraine, with deaths reported. At a conference in Poland, he identified a gas facility and a gas station hit by drones.
“It is increasingly evident that Russia is unwilling to accept an energy ceasefire proposed by the United States and intends to continue its terrorist air attacks against our people and communities,” Zelenskiy wrote on X. “This is what happens when Russia sees the prospect of higher revenues for its war machine.”
Volodymyr has condemned the diesel arrangement as a retreat from years of Western efforts to isolate the Russian economy. Trump, meanwhile, has escalated their already strained relationship by calling for Ukrainians to elect another president.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals, and for some reason, he never does,” Trump said Saturday.
Ukraine’s European allies questioned whether any ceasefire agreement actually existed. On Monday, they backed Kyiv and approved the European Union’s largest new package of Russia sanctions since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Thom argued that the White House was looking for an answer in the wrong country. He said resolving the crisis required addressing Iran’s shipping restrictions and acknowledging who started the Ukrainian war.
“If President Trump wants to end the strain on energy supplies, number one, get things right in Iran, and number two, recognise that it was Vladimir Putin, not Zelenskyy, that started this war,” Tillis said.
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