Trump says Russia will supply 300,000 tons of diesel after Putin call

US President Donald Trump said he had agreed a diesel fuel arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin following a phone call between the two leaders, under which Russia would begin sending large volumes of diesel to American and international markets. Axios correspondent Barak Ravid relayed the announcement, which Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, describing the call as a "highly successful discussion" with Putin.

Israeli news site Ynet characterised the move as an easing of sanctions on Russia. Its breaking news channel reported that Trump was relaxing the measures, while its fuller report described the announcement as a reversal that came roughly a month after Trump signed a broad sanctions law targeting Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded critically, according to Ynet.

The volumes Trump described

According to the text of the post as carried by Ravid and by the Israeli Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Trump laid out the supply in stages. More than 300,000 tons would be delivered right away. A further 500,000 tons would follow during November, and 1,000,000 tons more would come directly after that.

Trump added that Russia would later provide 3,000,000 tons of diesel within a short time, though he tied this last tranche to the state of Russia's diesel refineries. The Jerusalem Post also reported Trump's claim that Russia would supply 300,000 tons to the US and global markets without delay.

In the same message, according to the Abu Ali Express version, Trump linked the expected fall in diesel prices both to the Russian energy announcement and to what he called American control of the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the open sea, through which a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes. The reports do not explain what Trump meant by that claim.

Why this marks a shift in US policy

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Washington has used sanctions as a central tool to pressure Moscow, including measures aimed at Russian energy exports, which are a major source of revenue for the Kremlin. Ynet described the diesel arrangement as a turn away from years of American pressure on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The timing stands out because, as Ynet noted, the announcement came only about a month after Trump put his signature on wide-ranging sanctions legislation against Russia. Ynet reported that the aim of the deal is to bring down fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, the nationwide congressional vote held halfway through a president's term, in which the cost of living is typically a prominent issue for voters.

Russia's refinery problems

Trump's own caveat about the condition of Russian refineries points to a known vulnerability. An image published with the Jerusalem Post report showed a fuel price board at a Rosneft station in Moscow. Its caption referred to shortages of fuel in Russia after repeated Ukrainian strikes from the air on refining plants across Russian regions, along with reduced gasoline output. Rosneft is Russia's largest state-controlled oil company. How those disruptions would affect Russia's ability to deliver the volumes Trump listed is not addressed in the reports.

Ukraine's response

Zelensky attacked the arrangement, according to Ynet, which quoted him as saying that gifts to Putin will not end the war. Kyiv has consistently argued that economic pressure on Moscow is necessary to push Russia toward ending the fighting, and any loosening of sanctions is viewed there as reducing that pressure.

Who reported it

The announcement was first carried in English by Barak Ravid, a correspondent for the US news outlet Axios, who posted the text of Trump's statement on X and then pointed to his own Axios report on the deal. The Jerusalem Post, Ynet and Abu Ali Express, an Israeli Telegram channel focused on regional news, reported the same announcement in English and Hebrew on the same day.

What the reports do not say

None of the material includes a statement from the Kremlin confirming the arrangement or the quantities Trump described, so the figures rest on Trump's account. The reports do not specify which sanctions are being eased, whether the change requires formal action by the US Treasury or Congress, or how it squares with the sanctions law Trump signed a month earlier. They do not give a price, payment terms or a delivery mechanism, and they do not say how much of the diesel is meant for the US market as opposed to other buyers. The timing of the largest tranche is left open, conditioned only on the state of Russian refineries. Finally, beyond Zelensky's remark, the reports do not include reactions from European governments or from members of Congress.