US temporarily authorizes Russian diesel transactions after Trump-Putin call

OFAC issued General License 135 on October 9, authorizing transactions involving Russian diesel, including imports into the United States. The move followed a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The OFAC document authorizes transactions involving the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian-origin diesel that fall under the two sanctions regimes identified in the license. The authorization expires at 12:01 a.m. US eastern daylight time on April 7, 2027.

The license does not permit debits to accounts held at US financial institutions by Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund or Ministry of Finance. It therefore contains a specific exception to the permitted transactions.

Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to US and global markets, followed by 500,000 tons in November and another million tons afterward. He said total supplies could reach three million tons, depending on the condition of Russian refineries. Those figures describe announced plans rather than completed deliveries.

According to the Kremlin account reported by RIA Novosti, the presidents also discussed the conflict in Ukraine and developments in the Middle East. Russia said the leaders agreed to continue personal contacts and cooperation between presidential administrations, intelligence services and other agencies.