Republican Senators Demand the Russian Diesel Deal Is Torn Up
Six Republicans — among them Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Cornyn — have joined six Democrats to tell the president to rescind the agreement. “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies,” they wrote. The licence permits nearly 36 million barrels through mid-April.
Their argument is that the deal buys almost nothing at home while paying for the war abroad: it “will have a negligible impact on fuel prices, but the revenues the Kremlin will receive from this agreement will undoubtedly finance its desired war of attrition and advance its security cooperation with China, Iran, and North Korea”. They want the general licence revoked and the sanctions act the president signed this year actually used. Two volumes are circulating and they are not the same thing — the tranche announced on Friday was about 300,000 tonnes, some 2.25 million barrels and less than a day of American consumption, while the licence authorises nearly 36 million barrels. The president’s answer to the criticism was a social media post: “I made the right choice for the American People.” American diesel is averaging $6.26 a gallon, close to 80% higher than at the start of the year. The British relevance runs through the same barrel: diesel sets freight costs, and freight sets shelf prices.