“Selling Russian diesel harms America’s interests”: American elected officials judge that the agreement between Trump and Putin is illegal

A group of American parliamentarians warned several companies on Monday against the import of Russian diesel into the United States, which they consider illegal despite the agreement reached between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and subject to legal and parliamentary repercussions. The warning is issued in letters written by six senators - including Republican Thom Tillis - alongside a Democratic deputy, and are addressed to the leaders of large American banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, but also to the authorities of three ports in Texas and that of New York/New Jersey. “Granting Moscow the ability to freely sell Russian diesel on global markets harms America's security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who are defending themselves against Russia's illegal and murderous war,” they say.

Their letters come after US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in early October to deliver massive quantities of Russian diesel for the US and global markets. A first tanker loaded with Russian diesel is on its way to New York, we learned on Friday. According to elected officials, current American law prohibits this type of import until the president has certified to Congress that "Russia has ceased its military hostilities in Ukraine, that Russia poses no immediate military threat to NATO members, and that Russia recognizes the right of Ukrainians to choose their government."

Strong Election Pressure The legislation also prohibits any sanctions exemption "that materially alters United States foreign policy with respect to Russia" prior to any consideration of that exemption by Congress. “A prerequisite that the government has not met,” underline the elected officials. “In this context, any importation of Russian diesel into the United States raises important legal questions and could be subject to legal actions, as well as parliamentary investigations.

" After a telephone conversation between the two leaders on October 9, Russia, which is one of the world's largest exporters of hydrocarbons, agreed to deliver massive quantities of diesel to the American and global markets. This initiative, which involves overriding certain Western sanctions decreed against Russia, aims to try to calm the surge in prices before the mid-term elections in the United States on November 3, which promise to be difficult for the Republican president. According to the data of the Kpler company, the tanker Agioi Fanendes, sailing under the Maltese flag, is currently off the coast of Helsinki and displays New York as its destination via its AIS transponder signal.

It loaded almost 300,000 barrels of diesel at the Russian oil terminal in Primorsk and, still according to AIS data, which may change during the trip, arrival is scheduled for November 7. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Alexander Novak previously announced that Moscow would eventually be able to deliver 3 to 3.5 million tons of diesel to the markets.

Machine-translated from French