The Dutch government wants Donald Trump’s freshly inked diesel deal with Vladimir Putin thrown “in the bin”, according to Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
“With every contact we have, we will try to convince the Americans to scrap this diesel deal,” Jetten stated during a parliamentary debate, ahead of this week’s EU summit in Brussels.
According to news agency ANP, the Netherlands has already passed that message on to Washington.
What exactly is this “diesel deal”?
After a phone call with Vladimir Putin last Friday, Trump took to right-wing social media platform Truth Social to announce a new deal. In short, under this new agreement, Russia would be able to supply diesel to both the US and global markets.
A move, Trump claims, that would immediately send more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the “American and Global Marketplace”.
That same day, the US Treasury’s sanctions office (OFAC) issued General License 135, which suspends American sanctions on Russian diesel until April 7, 2027. Companies can now buy, ship, and import Russian diesel without falling foul of Washington.
Needless to say, Jetten isn’t buying it
According to Trump, this extra supply will help bring global diesel prices down “fast”.
Dutch PM Jetten disagrees, stating, “The idea is that buying more diesel from Russia will stabilise the international market and lead to lower prices for American consumers. That simply isn’t going to happen, and certainly not in time for the [US] mid-term elections.”
“The ships will never reach the US mainland in time, if they can even leave Russia at all,” he adds. “You also need to tell the Americans every now and then: sorry, but what you’ve come up with now really makes absolutely no sense at all.”
Ukraine is just as unimpressed. President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters it was “a weak decision by strong partners”, arguing that it hands Russia more money to keep the war going.
So, what happens next?
Jetten will be in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, October 15 and 16, for a European Council summit with the other EU leaders. Ukraine is on the agenda, along with the Middle East and the EU’s next long-term budget.
It’s unclear whether the diesel deal will come up at the summit. However, Jetten is no stranger to dealing with Trump face to face before; when he visited the White House in April, he planned to raise the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
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