Trump Reopened Russian Diesel Trade, Then Called for Ukraine to Replace Its President

Trump's Deal and Treasury's License

On October 9, 2026, Donald Trump announced that he had negotiated diesel supplies directly with Vladimir Putin, and his Treasury issued a license authorizing Russian diesel trade until 12:01 a.m. EDT April 7, 2027.¹² Russia's war against Ukraine continued.³

The next day Trump told reporters what he said he had repeatedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "Don't hit refineries." He added, "He better damn well stop," and then, "I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president."⁴

Trump opened a route for Russian sales while demanding that Ukraine stop striking the refineries that produce the fuel.²⁴ This was the President's own bargain and his own pressure on the invaded country.¹⁴

General License 135 permits sale, delivery, offloading and importation, including U.S. imports, otherwise prohibited under two Russia-related sanctions regulations.² It sets no tonnage or transaction value and requires no Russian ceasefire.² The license does not authorize debiting accounts at U.S. financial institutions belonging to Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund or Finance Ministry.²

The supplies Trump announced, for American and global markets, were promises: over 300,000 tons immediately, 500,000 in November, 1 million immediately afterward and a further 3 million depending on the condition of Russia's refineries.¹ As of October 10, deliveries remained unverified.¹³

NPR reported on October 10 that the deal first required Russia to lift its own diesel export ban, imposed in response to domestic fuel shortages caused by sustained Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, a crisis that had since eased somewhat.³

From Cargo Already Aboard Ships to Open Diesel Trade

The October diesel license has no loading-date cutoff; Treasury's May 18 crude-and-petroleum license covered only cargo loaded by 12:01 a.m. EDT April 17, 2026, including cargo from sanctioned producers.²⁵ It expired at 12:01 a.m. EDT June 17, 2026.⁵ Reuters reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent justified the extension as help for energy-vulnerable countries cut off from Gulf supplies by the Iran war.⁶

A Claimed Truce, Then Continued Pressure

Trump's pressure predates the deal: on September 14 he claimed that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to strike each other's energy targets, and wrote that the world's diesel-price rise "is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran."⁷ European Pravda reported that neither side had commented on his claim and that Trump had said the previous day that he had called on Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian diesel fuel infrastructure.⁸

By October 10, NPR reported, Zelenskyy had refused to halt Ukraine's attacks unilaterally without a reciprocal move from Moscow.³ Trump blamed him anyway: "He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel," he told reporters, according to CNN's transcript.⁴

NPR's Charles Maynes reported that most experts regarded Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz as the main cause of high fuel prices, while allowing that Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities could be a factor.³ Reuters had reported in May that U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran drove up global oil prices and prompted Treasury's first temporary Russian-oil license in March.⁶

Zelenskyy Objected; Trump Called for His Replacement

NPR reported that Zelenskyy, in a recorded message to reporters on October 9, said the deal meant more money for Russia's war and more suffering for Ukrainians.³ Asked the next day about Ukrainians suffering under attacks, Trump answered, "I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal," and called for a new president.⁴

Ukraine's foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, wrote of Zelenskyy on X, CBS/AP reported: "He has the support of the Ukrainian people, and they have the right to decide."⁹

In an October 6 letter published October 7, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker urged the administration to cut off Russia's oil revenue, while crediting its October 2025 sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft.¹⁰ They said the EU and UK had designated over 600 shadow-fleet vessels and the United States only 216, most in early 2025, a gap they argued gave the Kremlin a financial lifeline.¹⁰

The Strongest Defense: Cheaper Fuel

Trump's defense is the price of diesel, which he promised "will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!"¹ The cost was real: EIA put U.S. on-highway diesel at $6.199 per gallon on October 5, $2.488 above a year earlier.¹¹ It had already fallen $0.183 from the previous week, before the deal.¹¹¹ Trump wrote:¹

Truth Social post, preserved by Trump's Truth¹

Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority.

Reuters reported that U.S. diesel futures fell almost 5% after news of the deal and were trading at $4.64 a gallon.¹² The September sanctions law, which Trump signed, expressly preserved Treasury's authority to extend or issue new general licenses.¹³¹⁰ The same law required higher duties, at a rate up to 500%, on Russian imports including petroleum products by October 18, still ahead on October 10; the license does not address them.¹³²

In AP reporting, Columbia energy specialist Daniel Sternoff said that if Russia now believed it could resume diesel exports, that would help stabilize global diesel prices; with Middle East refining disrupted, however, extra Russian diesel "will not substantially lower them."¹⁴ CSIS analyst Clayton Seigle expected little price benefit and said the deal "does certainly let Moscow off the hook in terms of revenue squeeze."¹⁴

The Concession and the Pressure Were Already Real

Trump promised Americans cheaper fuel; the retail benefit remained unverified while the concession was already in place.¹¹²¹¹² The abuse of power was Trump's demand that Ukraine abandon an effective wartime tactic and change its leader, alongside his administration's relief for Russia's diesel trade without a ceasefire condition.²⁴³