Acting on each other: Putin and Trump have agreed on fuel supplies to the United States

Russia has confirmed its readiness to supply oil and petroleum products to the markets of the United States and around the world, the Russian president said in a statement following talks with President Donald Trump. According to the head of the White House, in October, the United States can receive 300 thousand tons of fuel from the Russian Federation, the US Treasury has already withdrawn diesel supplies from sanctions. Experts believe that importing fuel from Russia will strengthen the position of Trump's supporters before the midterm congressional elections in November, as well as bring additional income to Moscow. The two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and agreed to continue contacts. In Kiev, the outcome of the talks caused "disappointment and anger," Western media reported.

The conversation between Putin and Trump

The talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States were probably the most anticipated event of recent days. Interest in them was fueled by Donald Trump, who announced on October 7 that such a conversation was planned. On the afternoon of October 9, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, announced that the conversation would take place soon. Late in the evening, the Kremlin confirmed: the American leader called Vladimir Putin, their conversation lasted 1.5 hours, and "no one wanted to hang up first."

Russia has confirmed its readiness to supply oil and petroleum products to the markets of the United States and around the world, the Russian president said in a statement following the conversation. Considerable attention was paid to the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the situation around Iran and various aspects of bilateral relations. Moscow and Washington confirmed an agreement to continue personal contacts between the presidents of the two countries, as well as cooperation between the presidential administrations, special services and other departments.

Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that in order to talk with the Russian leader, the head of the White House postponed pre-planned events. The US President congratulated his Russian counterpart on his birthday. Putin stressed that he appreciates the attention that Trump pays to dialogue with Russia. During the call, the heads of state also discussed hockey: Donald Trump singled out Alexander Ovechkin's game, Ushakov said.

Judging by his statements, the US president was particularly concerned about the topic of energy. According to the head of the White House, Russia can immediately send 300 thousand tons of diesel fuel to the United States, another 500 thousand tons during November and 1 million tons immediately after that. Then, the Russian Federation will supply up to 3 million tons of diesel as soon as possible, taking into account the condition of its refineries.

"Diesel fuel prices for Americans and, in fact, for the whole world will decrease at a record pace and quickly," Donald Trump wrote on social media.

Russia is really ready to supply an additional volume of diesel to the U.S. market as early as October, said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. According to him, Russia immediately begins to lift restrictions on diesel exports earlier than planned. At the same time, the Russian market will be fully supplied with diesel, Novak assured.

Russian fuel supplies are extremely important to the Trump administration as the midterm elections approach. His Republican Party's ratings are only 39%, while the Democrats are supported by 51%. One of the reasons is high gasoline prices, with a 40% increase in the cost of fuel over the year.

Purchases of Russian fuel can strengthen the position of Trump's supporters, according to Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies. To do this, Donald Trump went against the bill recently passed by the House of Representatives, which proposed tariffs for third countries purchasing Russian energy resources, the expert explained.

According to him, the agreement reached by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is mutually beneficial. In particular, for Russia, this is an opportunity to circumvent the sanctions restrictions with the approval of the White House and ensure a flow of foreign exchange earnings, a key element of maintaining economic stability. The US Treasury has already announced the withdrawal of diesel fuel supplies from Russia from US sanctions until April 7, 2027.

American expert Egor Toropov drew attention to the high probability of the beginning of the easing of sanctions restrictions specifically from the energy, food and medical sectors, which will benefit both Russian businesses and American consumers. The agreement of the leaders creates a favorable ground from an image point of view for the future full-scale resumption of economic cooperation between Russia and the United States, the expert believes.

Negotiations on Ukraine and Iran

Political issues have become equally important. Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with Trump, made it clear that Russia's position regarding its goals and objectives remains unchanged, Yuri Ushakov said. The resumption of negotiations with Ukraine is currently impossible due to Kiev's position, which tried to disrupt the September 18-20 elections to the State Duma.

According to Ushakov, the Russian leader spoke in detail about the measures taken by Russia in response to the terrorist attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kiev's desire to stop the Russian army's offensive has no prospects — the Russian troops fully own the initiative and are moving forward. The conversation between the leaders took place on the eve of the meeting of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with the Ukrainian delegation. Donald Trump listened to the arguments and said that he would instruct the Ukrainian delegation to transmit all the signals.

The sides paid great attention to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. The Russian President thanked the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump for her humanitarian work and efforts to reunite families. The leaders agreed that the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Yana Lantratova, will keep in touch with Melania Trump's office on the humanitarian situation in Alyoshki in the Kherson region. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that this settlement was being attacked by Ukrainian drones.

Meanwhile, disappointment and anger reign in Kiev over Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel fuel, The Financial Times reports. Volodymyr Zelensky considered such a step without de-escalation agreements to be an "obvious weakness."

The conversation between Putin and Trump is extremely important against the background of growing tensions in Europe. Peter Kuznik, director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University, noted in an interview with Izvestia that the situation is becoming more and more alarming every day, as the Baltic states continue to build up weapons, and Lithuania is trying to amend the constitution in order to be able to host nuclear weapons and an American military base.

"As the threat of nuclear war grows literally by the hour, the need to find a diplomatic solution becomes more urgent — even if neither side can achieve its maximum demands," the expert believes.

A face—to-face meeting between the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States could become a platform for finding agreements. The previous one took place in Anchorage last year. The reason for such conversations was the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November in China, where both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump intend to come. Moreover, even trilateral contacts with Chinese President Xi Jinping are not excluded. The leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States will find an opportunity to cross paths on the sidelines of the APEC summit if they both take part in it, Ushakov believes. Vladimir Putin emphasized that the possibilities of diplomacy have not been exhausted in the Iranian direction either — it is possible and necessary to negotiate with Tehran.

Russia's willingness to help the United States in the context of the energy crisis shows Moscow's goodwill and its desire to improve relations. The parties will have to resolve difficult political issues in Ukraine and Europe, but we must not forget about the great economic prospects for cooperation between the two countries.