A bipartisan group of six senators called on the Trump administration Sunday to abandon a proposed deal to purchase diesel fuel from Russia, describing the arrangement as a response to high energy prices.
On Friday, Trump announced via social media that a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin had produced an agreement between the two leaders. According to the statement, Russia would move roughly 300,000 tons of diesel onto American and world markets immediately, with a further 500,000 tons to follow in November and an additional one million tons arriving shortly after that, before a final tranche of three million tons would be dispatched within an unspecified near-term window.
A joint statement opposing the deal drew signatures from six senators — four Republicans and two Democrats — when it was released on Sunday. The four Republican senators were Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and John Curtis of Utah. The two Democratic signatories were Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
Critics argued that the administration neither sought input from Congress nor provided the statutory explanation its decision required. One lawmaker contended that extending financial support to Russia while Ukrainian civilians continued to face harm ran counter to American interests. In their written statement, the group called on the administration to change its current direction without delay.
Speaking on a broadcast aired Sunday, Tillis argued that the administration's planned diesel purchase could constitute a presidential breach of legal obligation, while also stating that Russia bore responsibility as the party that initiated the conflict. Tillis further argued that the path to ending the conflict lay with Russia withdrawing from the territories it has taken by force.
Congress passed legislation imposing heavy tariffs on the top buyers of Russian oil and gas in the weeks before the announcement, though countries that source less than fifteen percent of their natural gas from Russia and can demonstrate active efforts to reduce that share were carved out from the penalties. The legislation sought to restrict the revenue Russia draws from petroleum and natural gas exports, money that has helped sustain its military operations in Ukraine.
The six senators also pointed to a 2022 congressional prohibition on Russian energy imports, stating jointly that the legislation had set out an unambiguous position — that oil from Russia should remain barred until its military actions against Ukraine end and threats toward NATO allies cease — and that the executive decision to permit Russian diesel into the country stood at odds with that statutory requirement. When a reporter raised the question of potential legal conflict with Sen. John Barrasso, he replied that the president faces difficult trade-offs and is working to bring energy costs down. Barrasso described the recently enacted sanctions law as a tool the president could deploy in negotiations with Putin toward a durable settlement in the region.
