Republican Sen. Thom Tillis suggested in an Oct. 11 interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press" that a deal between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin allowing imports of Russian diesel
fuel may be illegal.
"I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law," Tillis said.
Trump said in an Oct. 9 post on Truth Social that Russia will supply the United States and global marketplaces with 300,000 tons of diesel fuel "immediately" and an additional 1 million tons in November. Trump said Russia will then deliver 3 million tons of diesel fuel "within a short period of time," adding it will be based on the condition of Russia's diesel refineries.
The Kremlin confirmed the deal with Trump, saying in a statement that the "Russian side reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and petroleum products to U.S. and global markets." But the deal's full terms were not immediately clear.
Congress passed into law a bill that bans Russian oil imports in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. No changes to that law have been made.
The Treasury Department said it is temporarily lifting Russian oil sanctions through April 7, 2027, according to a notice posted by the administration. When asked if Trump is breaking the law, Tillis said: "I believe that he may be."
The outgoing senator from North Carolina said that the deal could put American lives at risk and pointed to congressional funding negotiations as a potential mechanism to discipline Trump.
"If the president wants my support, which I believe he should get for funding military operations and year-end funding beyond baseline funding, I think the president needs to understand this is a problem, and I’m not the only Republican concerned with this," Tillis said.
The deal was announced just weeks after Trump signed a major Russia sanctions package ‒ legislation named after the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ‒ that was meant to weaken the Russian economy that is financing the country's war against Ukraine.
'For the midterms, it could still be too little, too late'
Energy analysts expressed doubt about whether the deal could bring meaningful relief to consumers at the pump.
"I cannot overstate how much of a nothing burger this is," Rory Johnston, an oil market researcher and founder of CommodityContext.com, said on X. He noted that the promised amount in the deal for November equaled 125,000 barrels per day.
"Russia usually exports nearly ten times that volume when its refinery fleet isn't getting bombed by Ukrainian drones," Johnston said.
Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth, said the deal would mean 400,000 barrels of Russian diesel fuel if delivered over three months, but it would depend on refinery availability.
"For the midterms, it could still be too little, too late: The smallest volumes arrive upfront, when relief is needed most," Babin said.
The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel has risen above $6 nationally amid the U.S. war with Iran, posing major challenges for Midwest farmers and states such as Alaska, where remote communities rely heavily on diesel for electricity and heating. Deep-red Alaska, along with Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, has become a midterm battleground amid the price spike.
Tillis says Russia is aggressor in Ukraine
Since returning to the White House for a second term, Trump has assigned equal blame to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Putin for the war in Ukraine.
Tillis pushed back against that framing in the "Meet the Press" interview.
"We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor," he added. "Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied."
In a statement after Trump announced his deal with Putin, Zelenskyy slammed Trump's decision to lift sanctions.
"Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious weakness," Zelenskyy said. "It plays into Russia’s hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sen. Thom Tillis says Trump's Russian diesel deal may be illegal
