"For Vladimir Putin, this deal is a potential lifeline. For war-torn Ukraine, it is the most outrageous and heartless betrayal by Trump to date. Trump's entourage sees the deal as an opportunity for corruption with multi-billion dollar turnovers," the publication notes. As The Atlantic writes, the ratings of the American president are rapidly falling, and he needs a campaign trick that can work at the last moment. Therefore, he sees the strikes on Russian energy infrastructure as a threat to Republican hopes in the midterm elections, the article states. ## ## Why the Diesel Deal with Russia Makes No Sense The U.S. is one of the largest producers and exporters of diesel fuel in the world. American refineries produce about 5.2 million barrels of diesel fuel per day. Diesel consumption in the U.S. is approximately 3.7 million barrels per day. At the same time, Trump's deal with Russia covers a volume of 2.25 million barrels – equivalent to about 16 hours of consumption in the U.S., 10 hours of production in the U.S., or 14 days of imports from Canada. ## ## The Kremlin Lures Trump's Entourage with Lucrative Deals Last week, The New York Times reported on a possible multi-billion dollar oil deal in exchange for assets owned by the Russian company Lukoil – a deal that would directly benefit one of Trump's sponsors and two Middle Eastern groups that had business ties with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner or the family of U.S. special representative Steve Witkoff. However, the enticing Russian schemes have a catch: Russian energy assets hold little value if they are regularly destroyed by Ukrainian drones, the publication notes: "This makes the hidden principle of 'quid pro quo' embedded in these lucrative deals offered to Trump's family and friends obvious: if you force Ukraine to capitulate, we will provide you with untold wealth." As The Atlantic emphasizes, Putin is trying to exploit his most strategically important asset in the war against Ukraine – Trump's weakness for corruption. "The 2.25 million barrels of diesel fuel offered by Putin to Trump will have no real impact on global energy markets or global diesel prices. But accepting this fuel would lead to the collapse of the sanctions regime imposed by the U.S. against Russia and make Trump an ally of Putin in countering Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities," the article states. Moreover, if Putin succeeds in persuading Trump to deny Ukraine access to American intelligence, he will inflict serious damage on its combat capabilities. ## ## Trump's Diesel Deal - Reaction in the U.S. Former Vice President Mike Pence stated that the agreement should be immediately canceled. According to him, it is a betrayal of the legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham, who fought until his last breath for tougher sanctions against Russia. It has also become known that American lawmakers are preparing a new bipartisan bill aimed at banning any purchases of Russian oil.
