U.S. Congress Prepares Investigation into Diesel Deal with Putin – Bloomberg

Democrats in the U.S. Congress are preparing to challenge the agreement between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin regarding the supply of Russian diesel fuel. While the first tanker carrying fuel is en route to the U.S. coast, lawmakers are demanding that banks and port authorities preserve all documents related to the deal for further investigation. A number of Republicans have also spoken out against the diesel deal, including Senator Mitch McConnell, who sharply criticized Trump for “pandering to a Russian aggressor and autocrat.”

Promising to investigate the details of the deal after the November 3 election, Democratic members of Congress sent official letters to financial institutions JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, as well as to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 

The letters state: “Any shipments of Russian diesel fuel to the U.S. raise serious legal questions and could be subject to lawsuits as well as congressional investigations. The transaction… also raises serious national security concerns, given that it will serve as a source of funding for Russia’s brutal and illegal war against Ukraine.” Meanwhile, the Maltese-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes, which loaded 40,000 metric tons of fuel at the port of Primorsk, is scheduled to arrive at its destination on November 7.

Source: Bloomberg.

Russian oil refineries are ramping up diesel production in October after the Russian government granted export quotas under the supply agreement between Russia and the U.S. 

Russia has stated its readiness to supply the U.S. with any volume of diesel fuel. Meanwhile, diesel in the U.S. is already more expensive than it was before the fuel agreement with Putin.