Bipartisan US senators on Sunday urged President Donald Trump to “reverse course” on a diesel supply deal with Russia, saying it conflicts with US law barring Russian energy imports until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine.
اضافة اعلان
The seven senators, four Republicans and three Democrats, said in a statement that Congress had explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent US dollars from being used to finance the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine.
They added that the administration had neither consulted Congress nor provided an explanation for its decision, as required by law.
“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 senators said.
The statement marks the latest bipartisan criticism of Trump’s deal and represents a shift from the near-unanimous Republican support that Trump’s foreign policy decisions had received just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, which will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.
The statement was signed by Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Curtis of Utah, along with Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Tillis had earlier said that Trump’s diesel agreement with Russia could be illegal and could put American lives at risk.
Trump said Russia had agreed to supply diesel shipments to global markets and that his administration had temporarily lifted US sanctions on Russian fuel, which were intended to deprive Moscow of revenue needed to finance its war in Ukraine.
Tillis, who is due to leave the Senate when his term expires next January, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believed there was a strong case that the president was not complying with the law.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday that the Trump administration would implement the diesel agreement with Russia using the legal authorities available to it. He added that the deal announced by Trump on Friday was in the interests of the American people and would help lower prices.
“We will implement it using all the legal authorities available to us. So anyone in Congress saying there is an old bill or Senator Lindsey Graham’s current bill that prevents us from doing this is mistaken,” Bessent said.
Source: Reuters
