U.S. President Donald Trump stands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
More Republicans are speaking out against President Donald Trump's decision to let Vladimir Putin's Russia temporarily export diesel fuel on the global market, expanding the bipartisan blowback over the deal.
Six GOP senators joined six of their Democratic colleagues in a letter Tuesday urging Trump to cancel the arrangement allowing Russia to supply 4.8 million metric tons, or nearly 36 million barrels, of diesel through mid-April.
"This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded," the lawmakers wrote.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Oklahoma's Alan Armstrong, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn of Texas signed on, adding to the list of of GOP Congress members who had earlier questioned the deal Trump announced Friday. Armstrong has roots in the energy industry, having been CEO of Williams Companies, the largest natural gas-focused company in the U.S.
They joined Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Durbin of Illinois, Delaware's Chris Coons and Rhode Island's Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the letter.
Collins, Murkowski and Tillis had already spoken out, joining a statement with Democrats on Sunday that urged Trump not to "provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians."
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah had also joined that statement.
Trump announced the Russia diesel deal after a call with Putin. The announcement quickly drew an unusually critical response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who counts on continued U.S. support for his military. Trump, in turn, slammed Zelenskyy, saying Ukraine should get a new president.
Trump claimed in Friday's announcement that the deal will help quickly and sharply bring record-high diesel prices down. But oil analysts don't think the Russian supply will be nearly enough to make a meaningful impact on prices.
The 12 senators who signed Tuesday's letter to Trump agreed, writing that the deal "will not achieve just ends, nor will it benefit Americans."
"Allowing Russian-origin diesel into global markets will offer limited to no relief to Americans," the senators told Trump.
"It will have a negligible impact on fuel prices, but the revenues the Kremlin will receive from this agreement will undoubtedly finance its desired war of attrition and advance its security cooperation with China, Iran, and North Korea," they wrote.
The senators also alleged, as other critics already have, that the diesel deal contradicts the bipartisan Russian sanctions law that Trump signed into law a few weeks before announcing the deal, which required lifting existing sanctions on Russia.
"These authorities require you to apply economic pressure on Russia and the chief enablers of its war, in particular China, and thereby enhance your negotiating position to bring a swift end to this ruinous conflict," their letter read.
"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," they wrote.
"Maintain our legacy – and the duty America holds – as leader of the free world."
Trump has doubled down on his decision. "I made the right choice for the American People — ALWAYS, AMERICA FIRST!" he wrote on Truth Social on Monday.