Senators urge Trump to reverse decision allowing more than 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel

Key Facts

Republican and Democratic U.S. senators called on President Donald Trump's administration to immediately reverse its decision to allow Russian diesel imports, in a joint statement issued on 11 October 2026. Their objection followed Trump's announcement that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to U.S. and global markets, according to the Associated Press. The senators said allowing these imports directly conflicts with the ban Congress enacted on Russian energy imports. The decision thus faces opposition from within the Republican Party as well as Democrats, in a bipartisan challenge to the legality of allowing the imports. The joint statement targeted the administration's decision on Russian diesel, urging it to reverse course without delay.

Republicans joining the objection included Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis, according to the statement published by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They were joined by Jeanne Shaheen, the committee's top Democrat, along with Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden. The joint action followed an earlier Democratic objection involving Chuck Schumer, Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren to easing sanctions on Russian diesel sales worldwide. That earlier response condemned Trump's decision to lift sanctions on those sales, according to a statement from Senate Democrats. The Republican senators then joined calls for a reversal, broadening opposition to the decision beyond the Democrats who had voiced their position in the earlier action.

The senators based their objection on the ban on Russian energy imports enacted by Congress in 2022, saying its purpose was to prevent American money from financing Russia's war against Ukraine. They described allowing diesel imports as directly conflicting with that ban, setting the administration's decision against the restrictions cited in their statement. They also accused the administration of failing to consult Congress before making its decision and failing to provide the explanation they said the law requires to justify the move. They said in their statement: "The administration also failed to consult Congress or provide any explanation to justify its decision as required by law." Their argument thus combined opposition to allowing Russian energy imports with objections to the procedures the administration followed to authorize them.

To implement the decision, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135, dated 9 October 2026, covering Russian diesel transactions. The authorization covers transactions involving the sale, delivery, offloading and import of the fuel, including its entry into the United States. It authorizes transactions involving the "sale, delivery, offloading or import of Russian-origin diesel, including its import into the United States." The license excludes debits to accounts held by Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund and Finance Ministry at U.S. financial institutions. Those accounts remain subject to the stated exclusion under a license whose scope extends to trading and delivery of Russian diesel, as well as U.S. imports.

In the market, diesel futures prices fell after the decision was announced on Friday, 9 October, according to the Associated Press, as Russian supplies were announced for the markets. The futures move came on the day energy policy experts expressed doubts about the price impact of increased Russian supply. The agency cited experts as questioning whether increased diesel supplies from Russia would significantly lower U.S. or global prices. Their assessment focused on the scale of the impact additional supplies could have on prices, despite the decline in futures following the announcement. Alongside that cautious assessment, Trump announced a schedule for additional deliveries of Russian fuel following the volume he said would be available immediately.

According to the supply schedule announced by Trump and reported by the Associated Press, upcoming deliveries include an additional 500,000 tonnes of diesel in November, followed by further volumes. The president said a shipment of 1 million tonnes would follow the November cargo "immediately after that," as part of the supplies he announced Russia would provide. He also announced an additional 3 million tonnes at a later stage, saying they would arrive "within a short period," after the earlier deliveries in the announced schedule. As for the legal duration of the authorization for these transactions, the Treasury license set a deadline extending to 7 April 2027. Under the license, authorization expires at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time that day, the deadline set for the Russian diesel transactions it permits.