Trump Says Putin Will Ship Russian Diesel to Bring Down Fuel Prices
Russia agreed to deliver up to 4.8 million tons of diesel, Trump said Friday. The Treasury moved to license the shipments hours later as prices sat near record highs.
President Trump said Friday that Russia will ship millions of tons of diesel to the United States and the global market, after what he called a “highly successful” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Russia would supply 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 more tons during November, and another 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” He said a further 3 million tons would follow “within a short period of time,” depending on the condition of Russian refineries. All told, the shipments would add up to about 4.8 million tons.
The Treasury Department moved quickly behind the announcement. The department said it was “immediately issuing a temporary general license” allowing Russian diesel to reach the global market, at the president’s direction.
Markets responded. Diesel futures fell about 4.5 percent to roughly $4.67 a gallon after the post, according to The Wall Street Journal. MarketWatch reported that ultra-low-sulfur diesel fell about 4 percent on the day. At the pump, the average U.S. diesel price was $6.28 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
The announcement comes with fuel prices near record highs. Prices have climbed since the war in Iran began, and attacks on Middle East refineries have tightened global supply further. In Britain, the price of a litre of diesel passed £2 last week, the first time on record, and the government held emergency talks with European allies over a possible shortage, The Times reported.
The deal sits in tension with American sanctions policy. Last month Trump signed the “Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,” which places a 500 percent tariff on Russian goods and allows secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian fuel, the New York Post reported. Many of the law’s provisions can be waived by the president. The United States has not imported Russian oil or gas since 2022, when the Biden administration banned them over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Trump tied the deal to prices at home. “Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority,” he wrote. He said diesel prices would be “coming down, in record numbers, and fast,” and claimed the United States has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement lands weeks before the midterm elections, where the cost of living has become a central issue.
