Democrats target Trump-Putin Russian diesel deal with legal push

An understanding reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on diesel shipments has run into fierce legal and political resistance in Washington.

Leading figures in the Democratic Party have mobilised to take the deal to court and subject it to congressional investigations.

According to an official letter obtained by the news website Axios, Democrats will make scrutinising this accord with Moscow one of their primary objectives if they win a majority in one or both chambers of Congress after the elections.

The letter drafted by members of Congress stressed that bringing Russian-origin diesel into the US raises serious legal questions and could become the focus of both judicial proceedings and congressional inquiries.

Figures holding critical positions are behind the initiative. Democratic Senators Chris Coons, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, and Sheldon Whitehouse, who signed the document, are in line to assume the chairs of the Foreign Relations, Banking, Finance, and Judiciary committees, respectively, if their party wins a majority in the Senate.

Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks, a candidate to lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and Republican Senator Thom Tillis also signed the call.

The formal warning letter was sent directly to the core of the financial and logistics sectors.

The list of recipients includes six of the largest US financial institutions: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. The letter was also delivered to port authorities in Houston, Beaumont, and Corpus Christi in Texas, as well as the port authorities of New York and New Jersey.

Addressing these institutions, the lawmakers asked them not to participate in the purchase, transport, importation, unloading, storage, financing, or distribution of Russian diesel within US borders.

The call also requested that they refrain from brokering the transit of Russian diesel to third markets under the latest exemption introduced to the sanctions regime.

The senators asked banks and port officials to preserve contracts, shipping records, vessel data, and all communications conducted with suppliers, intermediaries, and US government authorities.

A deadline of 28 October was set to confirm that these records of suspected or completed transactions are being retained and to share information regarding potential operations.

The authors of the letter share the view that these steps to procure Russian fuel conflict with the 2022 US federal statute banning imports of Russian oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products.

They further argue that these shipments generate additional revenue for the Moscow government, which poses a clear threat to US national security.

White House issues licence, shipments begin

Donald Trump announced on 9 October that he had reached an agreement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to deliver Russian diesel to the US and world markets.

The plan established a phased schedule: Russia would send more than 300,000 tonnes of fuel in the initial phase, followed by a new shipment of 500,000 tonnes in November, after which deliveries would reach 1 million tonnes.

To clear the way for the agreement, the US Department of the Treasury issued General Licence 135.

This licence brings transactions involving Russian diesel and its importation into the US under legal authorization until 7 April 2027.

The Moscow side accelerated its domestic regulatory adjustments following the agreement, with the Russian government partially lifting its ban on diesel exports.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement on 23 October that shipments under the arrangement with the US had effectively begun and would continue.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak announced that his country is prepared to send any requested amount of fuel to the US from its diesel reserves allocated for export.

However, this traffic between the White House and Moscow has also unsettled some Republicans in Congress.

Indeed, on 23 October, a bill was introduced in the US Congress to revoke General Licence 135 issued by the Treasury Department and to bar similar exemptions from being granted in the future.

Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, who drafted the bill, proposed restricting the Treasury Department’s authority to approve transactions involving Russian energy resources.