President Trump stops to speak to members of the media as he leaves the White House on October 13, 2026. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption i Win McNamee/Getty Images A bipartisan group of senators is calling on President Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “betrayal of the people of Ukraine.” Last week, Trump announced via social media that he had reached a deal with Putin, under which Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and one million tons “immediately thereafter.” “In addition, based on the state of its diesel refineries, Russia will deliver, in a short period of time, 3,000,000 tons of diesel fuel,” Trump wrote. His announcement surprised lawmakers, who passed legislation this summer directing the president to impose significant tariffs on major importers of Russian oil. Those sanctions target Russian officials, companies and financial institutions that help fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine. The legislation was named in memory of the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who helped negotiate Trump’s support for the package. “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies; it should be rescinded,” six Republican and six Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the president on Tuesday. “The agreement you reached with President Vladimir Putin on October 9 will not achieve just ends or benefit Americans,” it said. The senators said they recognized the need to reduce energy costs for Americans, but maintained that allowing Russian diesel into global markets will offer “limited or no relief for Americans.” They added that the deal “only provides Putin with more fuel to finance his war machine and allows Russia to continue its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.” When asked about the letter, the White House referred to comments President Trump made to reporters Tuesday about concerns that Russia would use revenue from the diesel deal to buy weapons. “No one is telling me anything,” Trump said. “That’s a diesel deal. Not for us. It’s being pitched to the world. That’s not being pitched to us. It’s a diesel deal that’s going to be pitched to the world for the global market, because the global market suffered from high prices.” The letter was signed by Democrats Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons, Dick Durbin, Jack Reed, Jeanne Shaheen and Sheldon Whitehouse. They were joined by Republicans Alan Armstrong, Susan Collins, John Cornyn, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis.
