US President Donald Trump on Friday said Russia has agreed to supply millions of barrels of diesel to global markets after a call with President Vladimir Putin.The move comes as Mr Trump faces growing domestic political pressure to bring down rising diesel prices – caused by supply constraints in the Iran war and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries – ahead of November's midterm elections.Under the deal, Mr Trump said in a social media post Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to the US and global market place, in addition to 500,000 tonnes in November, followed by 1 million more tonnes “immediately thereafter”. Mr Trump said, “based on the condition of their diesel refineries,” Russia will deliver 3 million tonnes of diesel fuel “within a short period of time”.The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control released a correspondent general licence allowing the sale of Russian-origin diesel fuel through midnight on April 7, 2027. The department said the general licence does not authorise any debit to an account on the books of a US financial institution of Russia's central bank, its national wealth fund, or its finance ministry.The move drew quick condemnation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said allowing Russia to sell its petroleum products “is an investment in war that needs to end, not continue”.
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