An executive order waiving recently passed Russia sanctions received Trump's approval, with administration officials framing the move as aligned with the country's national interest. Under the proposal put forward earlier this month, stockpiled Russian diesel would be released into global supply chains with the goal of easing pressure on energy prices. A Treasury exemption covering Russian diesel transactions was put in place, extending through April 2027.
Trump's approach to Russian energy has drawn objections from Ukraine, European allies, and a number of American officials, with critics arguing that the policy benefits Moscow at a time when Russian forces remain engaged in an armed conflict with a neighbouring country. Zelenskyy told reporters that the oil agreement would, in his view, channel resources toward sustaining the ongoing conflict rather than constraining it.
A Friday executive order bearing Trump's signature withdrew a set of Russia-linked measures — among them tariffs on goods from that country and financial penalties tied to purchases of its energy exports — before those provisions had a chance to take hold. The legislation, named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham and passed by Congress the month prior with bipartisan support, is now facing an attempt at obstruction.
Under the proposed measures, any nation ranking among the five largest buyers of Russian crude oil or natural gas — a group that encompasses China and India — would face tariffs of as much as 100 percent on all goods entering the United States. Under the legislation, equal penalties on nations found to have knowingly purchased Russian oil or gas within 30 days of enactment — or identified as ranking among the five countries most active in helping Moscow sidestep export restrictions on its petroleum — were also within the available range of measures. Per the executive order, the waiver remains in place until the administration determines that additional steps are warranted.
Records of ongoing Russian gas purchases by EU member states sit in tension with the accusation Trump directed at European governments — that they were acting inconsistently, given their own earlier objections to his stance on Russian energy. Virginia Democrat Don Beyer characterised the sanctions waiver as an act of capitulation toward Russia that, in his view, undermines commitments to Ukraine and runs counter to what Congress had authorised.
Vasily Astrov, an economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, put forward the view that a loosening of sanctions would remove the pressure on Moscow to sell its oil at a discount, positioning the Russian government as the party most likely to gain from any such arrangement. Roughly 60 cents of every additional dollar added to the barrel price of Russian oil would flow into government revenue, by his calculation.
Kirill Dmitriev, who served as an envoy in the talks, described the decision by the United States to waive the sanctions as carrying both immediate and longer-term weight. Bulk purchasers of Russian energy — with China and India at the front of that group — now face a lower level of exposure to potential US secondary sanctions.
Dombrovskis, the EU's economy chief, assessed that the diesel agreement was not expected to produce any meaningful shift in worldwide fuel pricing. Trump indicated the arrangement would introduce 300,000 tonnes of diesel into domestic and international markets at once, with a further 500,000 tonnes to follow in November and one million tonnes at a later stage, while Dombrovskis, speaking on a television news programme, cast doubt on the plan's credibility — noting that the volumes carried no real macroeconomic weight and that Russia's capacity to deliver them to the required quality standards remained an open question.
Data compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a nonprofit research organisation, placed China at the top of Russian crude oil imports for September, with purchases totalling 6 billion euros ($6.74bn), while India accounted for 3.6 billion euros ($4.04bn) worth of acquisitions over the same period. Purchasing records for September show Hungary and Slovakia — both landlocked EU members holding carve-outs from the bloc's prohibition on Russian crude — together spent around 290 million euros (approximately $326 million) on that oil. Over that same period, Russian crude oil purchases by Türkiye reached a value of 172 million euros, equivalent to roughly $193 million.
Turkiye, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Singapore have together accounted for the bulk of Russian oil product purchases — diesel among them — dating back to late 2022. Figures for September placed Saudi Arabia at the top of Russian petroleum-product import volumes, with purchases valued at 534 million euros ($600m), while Türkiye accounted for 321 million euros ($361m), China for 304 million euros ($342m), and India for 161 million euros ($181m).
A joint statement adopted at the close of a two-day European Council gathering in Brussels conveyed the bloc's displeasure at the United States' move to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel. Large-scale purchases of Russian natural gas have continued inside the bloc even as restrictions on Russian oil remain in place, with a phased reduction in those gas imports scheduled to take effect the following year.
Data gathered by Urgewald, a coal-sector research organisation headquartered in Germany, put the volume of Russian Arctic LNG offloaded at EU ports between January and September of this year at upwards of 12 million tonnes — a figure running 9.5 percent ahead of the equivalent nine-month stretch in the previous year. Data from CREA show that EU member states drew 817 million euros (roughly $918 million) worth of pipeline gas through cross-border connections that month, while liquefied natural gas shipments added a further 615 million euros (approximately $691 million) to the bloc's energy intake.
Among EU members, France drew the heaviest volume of liquefied natural gas, recording purchases worth 446 million euros (approximately $501 million), while the Netherlands followed at 116 million euros (around $130 million). Measured against the prior month's totals, liquefied natural gas flowing into France had more than doubled, with volumes climbing by 103 percent. Macron, speaking on Friday, characterised the arrangement as conveying a negative signal to global markets while expressing doubt that it would do anything to move prices worldwide.
Of all EU member states, Hungary drew the largest volume of Russian pipeline gas that month, with purchases valued at 414 million euros (approximately $465 million). Revenue from Slovakia reached 161 million euros ($181m), while Bulgaria's contribution came in at 132 million euros ($148m).
