Republican Senators Join Democrats to Call Diesel Deal Unlawful
Four Republicans — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis — have joined Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden in saying the plan to import Russian diesel breaks American law. “The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” they wrote, urging the president to reverse course.
The volumes explain why this is not a symbolic objection: 300,000 tonnes now, 500,000 in November, a million after that and three million more to follow, with Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak saying exports could reach three million tonnes a month. The Treasury is suspending diesel sanctions until 7 April. Senator Tillis said the deal “absolutely will” put American lives at risk. Not every Republican objects — Thomas Massie wants sanctions lifted on all Russian petroleum products — and the split is less about Russia than about petrol prices before the midterms. The British relevance runs through the pump and the refinery. Russian refinery output is down sharply after Ukrainian drone strikes, which is the shortage this deal is meant to fill, and diesel is the fuel that moves freight. Average British diesel passed £2 a litre for the first time this month, up more than 40% since late February, and van and pickup owners face almost £2.5bn in extra fuel costs this year. Watch the European Union’s response: its foreign ministers have been preparing their largest sanctions package since the invasion, and a transatlantic split on Russian fuel would be the first real test of it.