The senators, led by Thom Tillis for the Republicans and Richard Blumenthal for the Democrats, called the October 9 agreement a gift to an adversary, said Russian diesel would do little to cut the record $6.53 a gallon US diesel price, and warned the revenue would fund Moscow’s war and deepen its security ties with China, Iran and North Korea. They also pointed to the sanctions law Congress passed last month, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, and asked Trump to use those pressure tools instead; John Curtis, who joined Sunday’s statement, did not sign Tuesday’s letter.
Twelve senators urge Trump to rescind Russian diesel deal
Twelve senators, six of them Republicans including Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn, wrote to President Trump on Tuesday urging him to withdraw from his diesel deal with Vladimir Putin and rescind the Treasury license that waived sanctions on Russian fuel.
Why it matters: The letter escalates Sunday's smaller bipartisan protest into a direct challenge from senior members of the president's own party three weeks before the midterms, and it argues the deal breaks the 2022 law barring Russian energy imports without notice to Congress.
Data as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The Hill report opened and read in full; Axios and CNBC reported the same letter the same afternoon. The deal's size is the senators' estimate of about 2.5 million tons of Russian diesel. Developing item, 2 to 3 sentences by design.
Sources
- GOP senators condemn Trump's Russia diesel deal as 'betrayal of our allies' · The Hill, via Alabama's 42 · 2026-10-13
- Russian diesel deal 'a betrayal,' bipartisan coalition says · Axios · 2026-10-13
- More Republicans come out against Trump's diesel deal with Putin · CNBC · 2026-10-13