President Donald Trump's agreement to ease sanctions on Russian diesel has drawn bipartisan demands for a reversal, with senators arguing that the arrangement conflicts with a congressional import ban and could provide Moscow with fresh revenue while offering Americans limited relief from high fuel prices.
Trump announced the deal Friday after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The agreement would direct Russian diesel toward U.S. and global markets, though its commercial terms, distribution arrangements and delivery schedule have not been independently established.
The dispute puts Trump's effort to address soaring energy costs at odds with lawmakers seeking to restrict Russia's war funding. Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022 following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement published Sunday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seven senators said the administration had neither consulted Congress nor submitted a justification required by law. Their objections challenge the administration's authority; they do not constitute a court ruling on the agreement.
"The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course," the senators said.
Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis joined Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden in signing the statement. Tillis separately questioned the plan's legality on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor. Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied," Tillis said.
Trump's announcement outlined an initial supply of more than 300,000 metric tons, followed by 500,000 tons in 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 supply circumstances.
Those quantities are promised shipments rather than confirmed deliveries. Their announcement comes as American diesel prices reached an average of $6.28 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA figures reported by Reuters, with the Iran conflict and fuel-supply disruptions straining markets.
Trump intensified the political dispute Saturday by criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's approach to negotiations while praising Putin. He argued that Zelensky would have secured a better outcome by reaching an agreement two years earlier.
"President Putin would like to see a settlement, strongly. Look, he's freeing up a lot of oil for the world okay, that's a good thing. By the way, at a very low price," Trump told reporters.
Online critics accused Trump of favoring Moscow, with one calling him "Putin's lapdog." The more consequential economic question is whether redirecting Russian supplies would increase the amount of diesel available worldwide.
Michael Lynch of the Energy Policy Research Foundation told The Associated Press that Russian shipments could simply be diverted from existing buyers. Those customers would then seek replacement supplies elsewhere, limiting any net improvement in global availability.
Daniel Sternoff, a senior fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, also cautioned that supply constraints could sustain high prices. Disruption to energy infrastructure and refining capacity continues to weigh on international fuel markets.
