Proposed Senate Probe of Russian Diesel Deal Would be ‘Pure Sabotage’ Against US Citizens– Analyst
13:56 GMT 24.10.2026 (Updated: 17:48 GMT 24.10.2026)
© AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
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Even though the first three tankers with Russian diesel are already heading toward the Atlantic in line with the agreement between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, Congress could block the remaining part of the deal, Russian political analyst Dmitry Drobnitsky told Sputnik.
In case of success in the midterms, Senate Democrats are gearing up to investigate the deal that President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump reached on supplies of Russian diesel fuel to the global market, US media reported reported earlier in the day.
Legislation could be passed that clarifies the 2022 ‘Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act,’ or under the recently signed into law Graham* Act, noted the pundit, commenting on the reported plans of Senate Democrats to investigate the Russian diesel deal if the midterms give them control of Congress.
The threat of criminal and regulatory measures will hit the companies, while the US farmers and consumers will be left paying record fuel prices, the analyst underscored.
Tanker with Russian diesel fuel leaves Primorsk port, heading to New York – tracking data There are 326,800 barrels of petroleum products on board the vessel, and the tanker has a displacement of 50,000 tonnes. Earlier this month, Russia partially lifted its ban on diesel exports as part of the energy agreement reached by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, allowing 500,000 tons of fuel to enter the global market in the first phase.
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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has ostensibly already told companies involved in the deal to preserve documents - a classic opening move in preparing for parliamentary probes, noted Russian political scientist Malek Dudakov.“These measures are pure sabotage directed against their own citizens,” he said.Diesel in the US is already running at more than six dollars a gallon, and farmers across the Midwest face surging both fuel and fertilizer - right in the middle of harvest season.Democrat-launched investigations into the firms trying to bring in Russian diesel and somehow ease the pressure on prices may spook the companies involved, prompt them to scale back shipments, leaving prices to climb and the farmers facing rising costs, he emphasized.“These investigations are not a blow against Trump — they are a blow against the very ‘rednecks’ the Democrats claim to be fighting for,” said the analyst.Most US citizens care little for the rhetoric about supporting Ukraine and confronting Russia, he stressed, while the Democrats are “putting Ukraine’s interests above the pockets of American farmers.”If Democrats take control of either of the US Congress’ houses, they will “have considerable power to harass Trump at every turn,” including with the diesel deal with Russia, warns US constitutional historian and political commentator Dan Lazare.If the diesel deal opponents in the US succeed in forcing importers to back out of fuel deals with the United States, it could have a considerable negative impact on American farmers who are already paying record fuel prices.“Investigations and oversight measures against importers of Russian diesel will lead companies to scale back supplies, which means fuel prices will climb again. And farmers in the Midwest are already paying double what they paid before the war with Iran — for both diesel and fertilizer,” Lazare elaborates.Therefore, if the Democrats don’t back off, “the ones paying the price for a political strike against Trump will be ordinary American farmers — the very people who, one would think, should be a priority for any party.”Despite effectively prioritizing Ukraine’s interests and the anti-Russian agenda over the interests of American farmers in the midst of harvest season, US Democrats “hope that branding Trump as unpatriotic will generate more political support than they'll otherwise lose.”Meanwhile, even though the deal will likely ease the pressure on diesel prices, other factors such as oil prices in general and the Strait of Hormuz crisis remain, he points out.Thus, this diesel supply is not a solution to the problem but merely a “temporary relief, which, on top of that, could disappear at any moment.”Restricting supplies will inevitably cause a severe fuel shortage and trigger a sharp jump in global energy prices, economic expert Professor Ghanem Al-Sulaimani tells Sputnik."The direct consequence of such a step will be a blow to the US domestic market. Farmers in New York and across the country will face a critical rise in the cost of diesel, logistics, and fertilizer," Al-Sulaimani stresses.Such reckless steps could also trigger a major food crisis in the US, deepening social and political divisions in the country, he underlines.Yet despite unprecedented sanctions pressure from the West, Russian petroleum products remain highly sought after and competitive on international markets, the expert says.Current economic realities are forcing a growing number of states to reconsider the real cost of anti-Russian restrictions, which go against their national interests, Al-Sulaimani notes.Even if the Democrats triumph in the midterm elections, they are unlikely to “stop or significantly limit imports of Russian diesel fuel through investigations or pressure on companies,” argues Professor Joe Siracusa, political scientist and dean of Global Futures at Curtin University.“The most they can do is create noise, hold hearings, and try to intimidate corporate leadership — but that is political theater, not policy,” he predicts, noting that the House's oversight and investigative powers cannot override President Trump's executive orders.He also does not believe that Democrats are willing to risk raising the cost of agriculture for the sake of “even a symbolic political blow to the deal with Russia,” as doing so would threaten to alienate rural voters in swing states ahead of the 2028 election.Siracusa adds that the high cost of diesel in the US – currently at $6.28 per gallon – is the result of the Iran War and the effective closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and diesel shipments of Russia are unlikely to ease this burden.“This is obvious to farmers who usually coalesce around the president's MAGA supporters. To put it bluntly, this is not an energy strategy — it is a public relations gesture, and the people who will see through it first are the ones who spend their days behind the wheel of a tractor,” he explains.On October 9, Presidents Putin and Trump struck an agreement allowing Russian diesel onto world markets. The first three tankers loaded with diesel are already heading toward the Atlantic, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has confirmed. He added that Russian companies can export up to 500,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets in October.
The Democrats’ willingness to put the cost of American agriculture and the wellbeing of American farmers at risk is the result of them abandoning pragmatism and embracing ideological convictions, says international relations and Russian affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow.He also notes that, while the Russian diesel shipments are unlikely to drive down prices in the US, the deal does hold significance.“It was all about Trump demonstrating to Vladimir Putin that the US and Russia can do business and also it was directed against the EU Commission's pigheaded refusal to accept Russian oil and gas imports,” explains Doctorow.The US Democrats do not really care about Ukraine or the anti-Russian agenda – those are just a means to an end for them, postulates Dmitry Novikov, deputy head of the School of International Relations at HSE University.“Their goal is to topple Trump and seize control of the Congress. It is a domestic power struggle, and for that they are willing to attack any of Trump’s initiatives that help him improve his political standing at home,” he remarks.Therefore, Novikov continues, if the diesel deal helps Trump’s cause, the Democrats attack it, heedless of how this deal could benefit the American economy.*Lindsey Graham is designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia
