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WASHINGTON — Russian diesel is expected to reach the American market before the Nov. 3 midterm election, sources told The Post — as fuel costs hit a record $6.53 per gallon last month.
The fuel “should be here in the next two weeks if we get everything done,” one American source told The Post, noting Russia agreed to send “a pretty substantial” amount.
Trump announced Friday that he was suspending US sanctions on Russian diesel exports — with Russian President Vladimir Putin also lifting a diesel export ban imposed last year.
The sources did not specify the exact plans to ship Russian diesel to the US and Trump had previously framed the deal as easing global price pressure.
“That’s not being released to us,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “That’s a diesel deal that’s going to be released into the world for the world market, because the world market suffered with high prices.”
Trump reached the deal with Putin after growing frustrated with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ambitious campaign to blow up far-away Russian oil refineries, damaging all major hubs and putting upward pressure on prices.
The US repeatedly asked Zelensky not to hit Russian refineries, but Ukraine “ignored” the requests, prompting Trump to make the diesel deal.
“When you hit refineries, that hurts American consumers, and that’s not acceptable,” a US source told The Post.
Zelensky fumed about the fuel arrangement with Russia — calling it a “weak” decision that would fund Russia’s ongoing invasion. Still, he belatedly agreed to the US president’s demand not to strike refineries.
Experts have estimated the diesel deal could generate $4 billion in new revenue for Moscow.
Trump on Sunday announced a limited “energy cease-fire” between Russia and Ukraine.
A US official said that Russia — which Zelensky accused of violating the pact by immediately striking natural gas facilities — only agreed not to hit Ukraine’s oil refineries and gas stations if Kyiv stops its drone assault on Russian refineries.
Ukraine has no operating oil refineries, but in theory could rebuild them during the pause.
Putin did not agree to cease attacks on other targets in Ukraine, including its electricity grid.
Trump has taken other actions to address high diesel costs, but they have had little impact, including allowing untaxed “red dye” diesel to be more broadly purchased by drivers.
The national average cost of diesel is currently $6.30 per gallon, nearly double the $3.66 of one year ago and down only slightly from an all-time high of $6.53 in late September, according to AAA data.
Those costs are passed on to consumers, with inflation rising again in September to an annual rate of 3.7%.
Trump’s efforts to tamp down costs come as Republicans face a potentially bleak midterm election with polling showing broad disenchantment, despite the president’s coast-to-coast barnstorming to advertise accomplishments such as new tax breaks and more promising data on job gains and foreign investment.
Fuel costs have risen dramatically over the past year, largely as a result of Trump’s nearly eight-month war with Iran that throttled shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
