Trump-Putin Diesel Deal: Can the US President Bypass His Own Russia Sanctions Act? | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Russian diesel to enter global markets has raised questions about how the move fits into a new law that empowers him to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.
Trump announced an oil deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, saying it would quickly bring down record high diesel prices. The announcement came just three weeks after Lindsey O. Graham signed the Russia and Iran Sanctions Act of 2026 into law.
The legislation authorizes Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil or gas, among other things. But the latest diesel arrangement has drawn criticism that Washington is easing pressure on Moscow even as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine.
“Congress just passed a law that gives Trump the authority to impose new tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and natural gas,” Scott Lincicome, vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, said after the announcement.
“Can America Tariff America?” he joked.
What does the diesel deal allow?
According to the agreement, Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, and another 500,000 tons in November. Another 1 million tons will arrive “immediately thereafter,” with another 3 million depending on refinery conditions, Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The U.S. Treasury Department subsequently said that Trump had ordered the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to issue a temporary general license allowing the supply of Russian diesel to the global market.
Read also | Trump, Putin deal on diesel: What it means for the US and global markets
OFAC specified that the approved transactions would be authorized for about six months, until April 7.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions from CNBC about the oil deal with Russia.
Can the US president get around his own? Here’s what the experts say
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and a member of the Senate Ukraine Committee, accused Trump’s decision of being “in direct conflict with the intent of Congress in our bipartisan sanctions bill.”
Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for International Economic Law, told X that the easing of restrictions on Russian diesel “pretty much proves that the Graham Russia Act will not force the Trump administration to increase economic pressure on Moscow.”
Criticism also came from Republicans. Representative Michael McCaul of Texas said the legislation gave Trump “significant powers and leverage against China and Russia to end Putin’s war with a negotiated settlement.”
“Unfortunately, while I understand the desire to lower diesel prices, I am concerned that lifting sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin’s war machine – encouraging more violence and destruction as we have seen in recent days,” McCaul said in X’s post.
What does Ukraine say?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the US decision to ease sanctions against Moscow “plays into Russia’s hands”.
“Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and permanent de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness,” Zelenskyy said. “Allowing Russia to sell oil products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”
Trump has previously criticized countries that continue to buy Russian energy. In September 2025, he wrote on Truth Social: “The purchase of Russian oil was shocking to some! It greatly weakens your bargaining position and bargaining power vis-à-vis Russia.”
Earlier this year, his administration issued limited 30-day waivers that allowed countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil that was already in transit after the start of the Iran war.
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Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, described the latest move as a short-term measure.
“It’s not a permanent solution at all. It’s kind of like a short-term Band Aid,” Siegel told CNBC’s Closing Bell. “And the reduction or lifting of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine is, I think, a very unfortunate consequence.”
