Trump announces deal with Putin for Russia to supply millions of tons of diesel

Russia will supply millions of tons of diesel fuel to the global market under an agreement that U.S. President Donald Trump said he reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call.

“Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page. He added that, “based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries,” Russia had agreed to deliver another 3 million tons of diesel to the market “within a short period of time.” That would bring the total amount released onto the market to around 4.8 million tons.

Trump said the shipments would help lower diesel prices “for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers,” which represent key voter groups for Republicans in the U.S. midterm elections in November, Bloomberg noted. Earlier Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control was “immediately issuing a temporary general license authorizing Russian diesel fuel deliveries to the global market.”

Trump’s statements mean a significant volume of Russian diesel will reach the market, Bloomberg reported: 3 million tons is equivalent to 22.5 million barrels. According to analytics firm Vortexa, the first shipment of 2.25 million barrels would amount to more than 10% of all Russian diesel exports in October 2025. The U.S. last imported diesel from Russia in March 2022, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

On the news, U.S. diesel futures fell to an intraday low and traded at around $4.67 per gallon, Bloomberg noted. After the start of the war in the Middle East and supply disruptions, U.S. retail diesel prices surged to a record $6.50 per gallon. A jump in prices last week prompted Trump to say he supported an export ban. But hours after the Group of Seven countries announced an agreement to release 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel from strategic reserves over four months, Trump said export restrictions were not planned.

The U.S.-Iran conflict, now in its eighth month, has dragged on and significantly reduced energy supplies out of the Persian Gulf, pushing fuel prices higher around the world. In recent months, however, Trump has repeatedly blamed rising fuel prices in the U.S. on Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine rather than the situation in the Middle East. “What's driving up Gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz... but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia's are being blown up by Ukraine,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in early October.

Russian diesel shipments have declined because of a government export ban, Bloomberg points out. A partial ban was introduced in September 2025, and Russia approved a full ban on diesel exports in early July. Moscow is restricting exports to ensure domestic supply after Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. Despite the drop in diesel shipments, Russia’s overall exports of petroleum products rose to a three-month high in September, Bloomberg reported.