Trump defends diesel agreement with Russia
US President Donald Trump has defended a diesel agreement with Russia against cross-party criticism. The agreement will help American farmers and reduce high fuel prices, Trump said on Monday (local time) in Washington. He announced on Friday that the US government was temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian fuel so that Russia could supply diesel to global markets. However, Republican and Democratic senators on Sunday called on Trump to change course. The agreement violates a 2022 law that bans the import of Russian energy as long as Moscow does not end its aggression against Ukraine. Trump rejected criticism from his own party.
The price of diesel in the US has risen by more than 60 percent since Trump launched a war against Iran seven months ago. The high prices threaten the narrow majority of Republicans in the US Congress in the midterm elections on November 3rd. Trump blamed Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries for the price increases. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected this in an interview with Fox News on Monday, saying that prices depend on the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also said on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed contacts about a possible ceasefire in this area. However, Zelensky emphasized that it was becoming increasingly clear that Russia did not want to accept such an agreement. Moscow attacked six Ukrainian energy facilities on Monday.
