US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said that Russia would immediately release more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel onto global markets, after Washington eased sanctions on Moscow in a bid to bring down soaring energy prices.

“Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace,” Trump wrote on social media following talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority,” he added.

Trump said Moscow would supply a further 500,000 tonnes in November, followed by one million tonnes, with larger releases promised thereafter.

The Kremlin said Russia had “reaffirmed its readiness to supply oil and oil products to the American and world markets.”

The US Treasury issued a temporary licence on Friday allowing Russian diesel to flow to global markets through April 2027.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the decision, describing the easing of sanctions on Russia as “unworthy” and “weak”.

“It is certainly not honest, it is certainly unworthy of our partners, and it is, in my view, a weak decision,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

Moscow has faced successive rounds of sanctions from the United States and its allies since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The announcement comes just weeks before crucial US midterm elections, with Trump’s Republican Party at risk of losing its grip on Congress amid growing voter frustration over the cost of living.

Fuel prices have surged since late February, when US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted Tehran to block the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy supplies.

The average price of regular petrol in the US has risen by more than 46% since late February to $4.37 per gallon, while diesel prices have jumped 67% to $6.28 per gallon.

Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for rising fuel prices, although the US-Israeli war with Iran has been the main source of disruption to global energy supplies.

To put the announcement into perspective, the initial 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel would be equivalent to little more than half a day’s US consumption, according to figures from the US Energy Information Administration.

Conflict stalemate

News of the diesel agreement came as Ukrainian and US negotiators met in Miami on Friday in a fresh attempt to break the deadlock in efforts to end the war.

The two sides “held constructive discussions on potential avenues to de-escalate and conclude the war with Russia ahead of winter,” US envoy Steve Witkoff said.

The Miami meeting followed visits to Moscow and Kyiv last month by Witkoff, a longtime Trump confidant, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, as Washington seeks to revive negotiations that have so far made little progress.

With winter approaching, continued fighting and attacks on vital infrastructure have added urgency to the search for a settlement.

On Thursday, a Russian strike on buses in the frontline Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed 30 people.

Trump’s repeated attempts to broker an end to the war have foundered over Moscow’s sweeping territorial demands, particularly its insistence on controlling all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including areas still held by Kyiv.

Zelensky has rejected surrendering Ukrainian-held territory, warning that Russia could use it as a springboard for another attack.

Russia currently occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Witkoff said the Miami discussions also covered “security guarantees, as well as longer-term arrangements for Ukraine’s and Europe’s security to prevent future conflicts, and support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.”

Officials from Britain, France and Germany attended the talks, alongside representatives of NATO and the European Union.