Russian diesel tanker sails for U.S. as Kyiv objects

The Kremlin said Friday that the first tanker carrying Russian diesel to the United States under a new import deal has sailed, two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The cargo is 40,000 tonnes, about 300,000 barrels, or roughly seven per cent of the four million barrels of diesel the U.S. uses every day, The Associated Press reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision “a weak decision by strong partners.”

“The first oil tanker has sailed off to customers, and regular supplies will continue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to the AP report. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak put the first shipment at 40,000 tonnes, the news agency Interfax reported. The marine intelligence firm Kpler said the vessel is signalling a New York arrival on Nov. 7, which would be the first Russian diesel delivery to the U.S. since July 2023.

Novak told reporters on Oct. 21 that the first tanker would leave port the next day and that “more batches will follow,” Bloomberg reported, in an account carried by gCaptain. Bloomberg said Putin agreed during an October call with Trump to relax Russian diesel export restrictions, and that Russia pledged 500,000 tonnes in a first phase without giving a timeframe. Novak said Russia aims to raise diesel exports gradually in November and December, with global deliveries reaching up to 3.5 million tonnes a month by the end of the year.

Bloomberg said diesel is trading above US$200 a barrel, weeks before the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, and that analysts consider the deal too limited to move prices meaningfully before the vote. AP also reported that energy experts do not expect it to lower fuel prices significantly. Trump has said the deal will bring millions more tonnes in the coming months.

Al Jazeera reported that Trump waived oil export sanctions on Russia to lower diesel prices, a step formalized by executive order on Oct. 16, and that Putin said on Oct. 21 the first 40,000-tonne shipment would leave within two or three days. Its report also said the U.S. has not released Patriot interceptors to Ukraine in recent weeks, and that Europe has paid for those it has received.

Weeks earlier, Trump signed a sanctions package authorizing tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the top five importers of Russian oil or gas, then paused the measures, AP reported. U.S. and European lawmakers oppose the diesel agreement, arguing it will help fund Russia’s war, Bloomberg reported. Zelenskyy told Bloomberg that Trump is pressuring Kyiv to yield to Moscow. That rift has also split Europe’s leaders; EU leaders backed Zelenskyy last week.

Zelenskyy spoke Friday with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had met Putin in St. Petersburg, AP reported. A three-way meeting of Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. may take place next month, with no venue settled. The Kremlin has said Moscow is ready for talks near Nov. 10, and Peskov has named Abu Dhabi as the location, according to Al Jazeera. “We need diplomacy to move forward,” Zelenskyy said.

The war continued alongside the diplomacy. AP reported that Russia halted flights at all four Moscow airports for about three hours after Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences downed 21 Ukrainian drones. Russia and Ukraine each released 270 prisoners of war, their first exchange since August. Moldovan President Maia Sandu said a Russian drone violated her country’s airspace and crashed near homes in the village of Chistelnita, with no casualties reported, and Moldova declared a Russian embassy staff member persona non grata. “Russia’s war keeps putting Moldovan lives at risk,” Sandu said. These claims have not been independently verified by Canada News Media.

For Canadians, the deal lands in an energy market already under strain. Canada News Media has reported that Brent crude neared US$116 a barrel amid fears over the Strait of Hormuz, a squeeze that feeds into what Canadians pay at the pump. Canada has sanctioned Russian energy since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and a U.S. decision to ease restrictions on Russian fuel raises questions about how closely allies keep their measures aligned.

What happens next: the tanker’s reported Nov. 7 arrival in New York, the Nov. 3 U.S. midterms and the proposed talks near Nov. 10 will show whether the deal changes prices or the course of the war.

Via The Associated Press, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera.

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