Bipartisan chorus to Trump: Undo Russian diesel deal

WASHINGTON — A dozen senators from both parties bluntly told President Donald Trump in a letter Tuesday to reverse a deal he announced last week to allow U.S. purchases of Russian diesel fuel.

The proposed waiver of U.S. energy sanctions on Russia would permit the purchase of several hundred thousand tons of the fuel from that country, beginning “immediately,” the president said in an Oct. 9 social media post stating his aim is to ease high energy prices for Americans.

Since then, congressional critics of the deal from both parties have sounded off against it, never more resoundingly than in Tuesday’s letter from six Republicans and six Democrats, including some of the chamber’s most powerful members.

“This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded,” the senators wrote.

The letter’s signatories included high-ranking Republicans such as Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Also signing were Democratic ranking members Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island from Armed Services, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire from Foreign Relations and Chris Coons of Delaware from the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Other Defense appropriators who signed were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.

Also signing were GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, who serves on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence panels; Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Alan Armstrong of Oklahoma; plus Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Armed Services Committee; and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Russia sanctions

The waiver for Russian diesel provides Vladimir Putin, that country’s president, with finances for his “war machine,” the senators wrote, which “enables Russia to continue its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”

The action stands to damage U.S. security interests “and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war.”

Another Republican Defense appropriator, Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, criticized the president’s action in a post on X on Monday, saying: “We should be tightening sanctions further, not undercutting them by allowing the import of Russian diesel and risking erasing our leverage, damaging our credibility with allies, and emboldening our adversaries.”

To critics, Trump’s decision to allow U.S. purchases of Russian diesel runs counter to a measure he signed into law just under a month ago that would impose new sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, in addition to those already on the books.

Additionally, critics contend that the 2022 law titled the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act prohibits the administration from importing Russian oil unless the president certifies that Russia has withdrawn from Ukraine, poses no threat to NATO and recognizes Ukraine’s sovereign right to exist.

Top energy experts have noted in recent days that U.S. imports of Russian diesel would have little impact on the overall supply of the fuel in the U.S. — but could deliver billions of dollars to the Russian government.

Question of legality

The new Senate letter came two days after seven senators, including some of the same ones who signed Tuesday’s missive, issued a statement that effectively called Trump’s move illegal.

“Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine,” the senators wrote. “Congress was clear: the U.S. should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our NATO Allies.”

That statement was penned by Republican Sens. Collins, Murkowski, Tillis and John Curtis of Utah, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee; plus Democratic Sens. Shaheen, Blumenthal and Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Intelligence Committee.

The seven senators said the decision “runs directly counter to that law,” and they said the administration has also “failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute.”

House GOP misgivings

In the House, meanwhile, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who is in a tough reelection race in a district Trump lost in 2024, vowed in an X post on Oct. 10 to file bipartisan legislation soon “to block any and all purchases of Russian oil.”

He said he would force the measure to the House floor via a discharge petition and predicted “it will pass overwhelmingly.”

Even as Fitzpatrick clashes with the administration on its Ukraine policies, The New York Times reported Tuesday that two top GOP super PACs have shifted campaign funds from three faltering Republican candidates to other races, including Fitzpatrick’s contest.

The outcome of his race could affect GOP hopes of holding the House majority.

Another maverick House Republican, Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring after this session, has repeatedly criticized Trump’s Russian diesel waiver.

“Buying Russian diesel violates U.S. law,” he said in a post on X that linked to the seven senators’ statement.

Most Americans, Bacon said in another post, “reject buying fuel from Russia that funds the bombing of cities.”

Despite the pushback from Republican hawks, other senior Republicans have backed the president’s move.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that Trump is “balancing his effort to stop and end … Putin’s war in Ukraine and lowering prices for American families.”

Likewise, House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said on ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday that Trump’s decision on Russian diesel is “another example of our president thinking out of the box. You know, he’s listening to the American people.”

View from Europe

In Ukraine, meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an unusually barbed comment about a U.S. policy, called Trump’s action on Russian fuel a “weak decision by strong partners” and a “gift” to Putin, telling ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday: “It gives Putin money and he spends money only on this war.”

Trump’s approval of U.S. purchases of Russian diesel comes as European officials have said the Kremlin is behind a rash of sabotage, arson, cyberattacks and online disinformation across the continent.

In a sign of the growing tensions, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top commander and head of U.S. European Command, said in a speech to the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday that the alliance is prepared to rebuff any Russian invasion.

Trump administration officials have reportedly pushed Ukraine to halt their increasingly successful strikes on energy infrastructure inside Russia. Trump has suggested that these strikes are driving up world energy prices, which have risen largely as a result of the war in the Persian Gulf.

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