A bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers has urged the president to reverse his Russian diesel deal, arguing it would do little to lower fuel prices<\/p>\n
A bipartisan group of 12 US senators has urged President Donald Trump to abandon a diesel deal with Russia, arguing that it would betray Ukraine while doing little to curb surging energy prices.
\nThe decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports, announced on October 9, reportedly blindsided Ukraine and America\u2019s European allies, reigniting Trump\u2019s public feud with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
\nIn a letter sent on Tuesday, the senators argued that \u201cgranting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine.\u201d They further claimed that the move would have \u201ca negligible impact on fuel prices,\u201d while the proceeds would allow Russia to fund its military operations in Ukraine and \u201cadvance its security cooperation with China, Iran, and North Korea.\u201d
\n\u201cIt will also endanger servicemembers operating overseas in support of Operation Epic Fury,\u201d the senators wrote, referring to the US war with Iran. They urged Trump to impose additional sanctions on Russia and its trading partners under legislation named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal Russia hawk, which the president signed into law last month.
\nThe letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Thom Tillis, Jeanne Shaheen, Susan Collins, Dick Durbin, Alan Armstrong, Sheldon Whitehouse, Lisa Murkowski, Jack Reed, Chris Coons, Mitch McConnell, and John Cornyn.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Zelensky thinks he can bully Trump like he does EU leaders<\/p>\n
Trump has defended the agreement with Russia as beneficial to American consumers. \u201cI made the right choice for the American People\u00a0\u2013 ALWAYS, AMERICA FIRST!\u201d he wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
\nAccording to Axios, Trump decided to strike a deal with Moscow after Zelensky rejected \u201chalf a dozen\u201d US requests to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, which Trump blamed for rising gas prices.
\nTrump further suggested that it was \u201ctime for Ukraine to get a new president\u201d after Zelensky criticized him for easing sanctions on Russia. Zelensky\u2019s five-year presidential term expired in May 2024, but he has not called new elections, citing martial law imposed following the\u00a0escalation of the conflict with Russia.
\nTrump also pointed out that the EU has continued to import Russian energy despite pledging to phase out supplies from Moscow. The bloc has spent more than $320 billion on Russian energy since 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said earlier this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers has urged the president to reverse his Russian diesel deal, arguing it would do little to lower fuel prices A bipartisan group of 12…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t