WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright pushed back Sunday against criticism of President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, arguing the relief puts pressure on Moscow rather than rewarding it, because Russia has little diesel left to sell unless the fighting in Ukraine eases.
Wright made the case on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have cut into Moscow’s output, he said, and that damage is now the leverage.
“This is pressuring Russia. Russia does not have diesel to export. The only way they can get additional diesel to export is if they tone down the conflict with Ukraine.”
“They have to either get an energy ceasefire, they have to either end the war, or they have to reduce their war efforts, so they have additional diesel to export,” he added.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Wright called the easing a carrot meant to end the war and said critics in both parties were wrong. “This is not going soft on Russia. This is an incentive to end the war,” he said.
Asked whether an energy ceasefire was actually in place, Wright did not confirm one. “President Trump is always working to move them in the direction to have that kind of a deal,” he said.
Trump announced the arrangement earlier this month. Trump’s announcement set the volumes at 300,000 tons of Russian diesel in October, then 500,000 tons in November and 1,000,000 tons a month after that. None of it is headed straight to the United States, the White House has said. The fuel goes onto the global market.
Price is the domestic pressure behind the deal. AAA figures cited in the New York Post report put diesel at $6.33 a gallon in the United States this week, close to a record. Farmers are feeling it most, with the midterm elections set for Nov. 3.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a similar argument to reporters on Saturday. “That diesel is going to be sold one way or the other,” Rubio said. “The only difference is how much of it the United States was going to get.”
The diesel deal is only part of the dispute. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order waiving sanctions and tariffs under the Graham Act, the Russia sanctions law he signed last month. The measures had been due to take effect next week. Rubio said Trump will use up to 60 days to weigh the economic impact before a final decision.
Wright said the order did not end the Graham Act penalties, which fall mainly on countries that buy Russian energy. “It’s about economic sanctions on countries that trade with Russia. There’s two of those that are meaningful, China and India,” he said. “He didn’t end the Lindsey Graham sanctions. He’s just suspended the enforcement of that for now.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants both moves reversed. He warned the waiver would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Reuters, and he appealed directly to Trump in an NBC News “Meet the Press” interview that aired Sunday.
“I hope that he will change his decisions, change his attitude to Putin,” Zelenskyy said. “We waited from the very beginning of his presidential term that he will change his attitude to Putin. For us, it’s important and essential, absolutely.”
Trump defended the waiver himself on Sunday in a Truth Social post, saying he is negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine and does not want to drive Moscow away from the bargaining table.
Wright closed his defense with the length of the war. “The war has gone on for four and a half years. And so what President Trump is trying to do is find what different way will lead to peace,” he said.
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