Trump unveils Russian diesel deal to tame record US pump prices

Al Jazeera reported on 10 October 2026 that US President Donald Trump had announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply diesel fuel to the United States and global markets. The arrangement would release more than 300,000 tonnes immediately, 500,000 tonnes in November and 1 million tonnes thereafter, with scope for 3 million additional tonnes. The move is aimed at easing US fuel prices, which hit a record national average of $6.52 a gallon in September and were still $6.20 on the day of the announcement, just weeks before the November midterm elections. US daily diesel usage runs at 3.7 million barrels of a world market of roughly 30 million barrels. However, analysts quoted by Al Jazeera, including Capital Economics' Hamad Hussain and former IEA official Neil Atkinson, questioned whether Moscow could deliver, noting that Russian diesel exports had already slumped from 850,000 barrels a day in the first quarter to 190,000 in the third after Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the deal 'weak' and unfair to Kyiv.