First Russian diesel tanker sails for New York under Trump-Putin deal but will arrive AFTER the midterms

The Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes loaded 40,000 tons of ultra-low sulfur diesel at Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk on 22 October. The vessel is expected to reach the US on 7 November, four days after the 3 November midterm elections, and will be the first Russian diesel shipment to enter the country since Joe Biden's 2022 ban on Russian energy imports. Donald Trump's move to rescind that ban has drawn criticism from Volodymyr Zelensky and several US lawmakers.

The entire shipment would meet only around 7.8% of a single day's US diesel demand.

Trump has pledged 300,000 tons immediately, 500,000 tons in November, then 1 million tons.

A Treasury licence allows any company to trade Russian diesel free from the threat of US sanctions.