Rogers says he worries about ‘optics’ of U.S.-Russia diesel deal, US cannot not give Putin ‘an inch’

Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R) on Sunday said he’s worried about the “optics” of the U.S.’s deal with Russia to export diesel and added that the U.S. cannot give Russian President Vladimir Putin “an inch.”

Rogers told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” that President Trump is “trying to do something to bring down diesel prices” by striking a deal with Russia.

“I do worry about the optics of it, but I understand what his motives are and his motives are, ‘Try to get prices back down on diesel, diesel’s hurting us,'” Rogers said.

The former lawmaker later said he would have voted for the sanctions package signed into law last month, posthumously dedicated to the late Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.). The law’s intent is to put pressure on the Kremlin to end its years-long military operations against Ukraine by imposing tariffs on top Russian energy purchasers and those who help the country evade sanctions.

“I don’t think we can give Putin an inch, and we’ll see –– if the strategy works, hey, good on them, because that means we’re going to pay less for diesel in the United States,” Rogers said.

The Michigan Republican said if Trump has a “better idea” to lower diesel prices, “I’d be for it.”

“I’m just a little skeptical that this will work the way that the administration wants it to work,” he said. “And we’re paying a pretty heavy price here in Michigan. We’ve got to get these prices down, which is why I call to –– hey, it’s time to wrap up the Iran conflict. We’ve got to get this thing settled.”

“Our initial objectives have been met,” Rogers added. “Let’s wrap it up. Let’s get these prices back down. Let’s get people putting a little more money in their wallets.”

Rogers has been among the GOP candidates running in the midterm elections to call for the conflict to end to lower gas prices. He said in a campaign ad last month that Michigan families cannot “afford to wait” for the war to end for prices to go down.

On Friday, Trump issued an executive order waiving sanctions against Russia set to take effect soon as part of the sanctions package. Trump said he “submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States.”

The diesel deal would have Russia, according to Trump, “immediately” begin supplying 300,000 tons of diesel, an additional 500,000 tons in November and then one million tons “immediately thereafter.” The deal elicited bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill, with five Republican lawmakers joining their Democratic colleagues to denounce the relief.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the deal a “birthday gift” to Putin and said Wednesday that he felt “betrayed” by Trump’s decision. He said Saturday that Ukraine is open to negotiating for an end to the conflict and urged the U.S. to pressure Russia, not his country.

“Otherwise, it’s simply unfair,” he said on the social platform X.