Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joined Democrats and two other Republicans on Sunday to call on President Donald Trump to “reverse course” on his diesel supply deal with Russia.
They claimed it runs counter to U.S. law barring imports of energy until Russia ends the war with Ukraine.
“Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine,” the seven senators—four Republicans and three Democrats—said in a statement.
They claimed that the administration failed to consult Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute.
“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course,” the statement said.
It was issued by Sens. Collins (R-Maine), Murkowski (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Shaheen is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Curtis also serves. The statement was issued by the seven senators rather than the committee as a whole.
Collins and Murkowski have a history of breaking with the president and voted to convict Trump on an article of impeachment in 2021, though the vote fell short and Trump was ultimately acquitted.
Tillis has become a vocal critic of Trump after announcing his plans to retire in 2025.
In September, Curtis sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging it to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to testify about their past business dealings.
Russia is expected to immediately begin shipping diesel to the strained global market, with the United States temporarily removing sanctions placed on the country over its war with Ukraine to try to ease prices for Americans as the midterm elections approach, Trump announced on Oct. 9.
The agreement was reached after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Trump said in a Truth Social post.
More than 300,000 tons of diesel will be shipped immediately, the U.S. president said. Another 500,000 tons of diesel are expected in November, followed by a million tons in December, to help make up for supply lost due to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.
Russia could deliver another 3 million tons of diesel to the global market beginning next year, depending on the condition of refineries, Trump said.
“Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!” Trump said in the post.
“Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority. This is a very big and important announcement.”
The latest average retail diesel price in the United States, released on Oct. 9, was $6.28 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday that the Trump administration would follow through with the deal using existing legal authority.
“We’re going to do it with all the legal authorities we have. So, you know, anyone in Congress who says whether it’s an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill (that) prohibits us from doing it is wrong,” Bessent told Fox & Friends.
Trump signed legislation on Sept. 18 called the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,” imposing new sanctions on Russia and extending sanctions on Iran.
The bill, named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), was intended in part to restrict Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine through energy exports.
In an Oct. 11 Truth Social post, Trump said that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to what he described as an “energy ceasefire.”
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he said.
In an Oct. 12 post on X sharing his remarks at the Warsaw Security Forum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned the deal’s potential impact on fuel prices.
“If Russia accounts for 2.2 percent of global diesel supplies, what impact can it have on the price?” Zelenskyy said.
“That’s how negligible it is. And if we don’t give Putin opportunities, his influence in other areas will be just as negligible. He is simply taking advantage of the fact that others want dialogue with him, even though there is no equality and no fairness in it.”
Jill McLaughlin contributed to this report.
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