WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, the Delaware Democrat who is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, on Tuesday called President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel a giveaway to Moscow that will not help American drivers or truckers. Coons said the deal would help finance Russia’s war on Ukraine and hurt America’s global standing. He also confirmed that he had joined a bipartisan group of senators demanding that Trump reverse course.
The Post
Coons laid out his position in a post on X at 5:00 PM on October 13, 2026. The full text reads:
“Lifting sanctions on Russian diesel will do next to nothing to lower fuel costs for American families, but it will help fund Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine and damage our standing in the world. I joined my bipartisan colleagues in urging President Trump to rescind this deal.”
The Deal and the License
The post responds to an agreement Trump announced on Friday, October 9, saying he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call to obtain diesel from Russia. The announcement reversed years of U.S. policy toward Moscow. Trump publicly thanked the Russian leader: “I want to thank President Putin. So, thank you.”
Within hours, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135. Dated October 9 and signed by OFAC Director Bradley T. Smith, it authorizes all transactions otherwise barred under two sanctions programs, the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations and the Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations. The authorization covers the sale, delivery, offloading and importation of Russian-origin diesel, including importation into the United States. It runs through 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 7, 2027.
The license carves out one exception. It does not authorize any debit to an account on the books of a U.S. financial institution of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund or the Ministry of Finance. It is also the first license to ease diesel sanctions for longer than the standard 30-day window since the war in Ukraine began. It applies to Russian diesel already loaded onto tankers as of the day of the announcement.
The Bipartisan Letter
On Tuesday, 11 senators sent Trump a letter calling for the deal to be rescinded. Coons signed it alongside Democrats Richard Blumenthal, Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, and Republicans Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell. The letter was also sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The letter says Congress and the American people support ending the Russia-Ukraine war, but that a brokered peace “must be on just terms.” It says General License No. 135 “only provides Putin with more fuel to finance his war machine and enables Russia to continue its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.” The senators add: “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”
The letter makes the same argument Coons made on fuel prices. It says allowing Russian-origin diesel into global markets “will offer limited to no relief to Americans” and will have “a negligible impact on fuel prices.” The senators warn that Kremlin revenues from the arrangement would finance Russia’s war of attrition and its security cooperation with China, Iran and North Korea. They also say the deal would endanger servicemembers deployed in support of Operation Epic Fury, the military campaign against Iran.
A Law Signed Weeks Earlier
The senators point to legislation Trump signed last month, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which passed both chambers with large bipartisan majorities. The letter says the law grants Trump the authority to broker “a just and fair peace” and requires him to apply economic pressure on Russia and its enablers, in particular China. It urges him to “withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided” under the act. The law envisions sanctions on Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers, and directs the administration to target the top importers of Russian oil and gas.
Reaction to the Deal
Blumenthal, who co-sponsored the sanctions law, said Trump’s decision “is an embarrassment and makes us complicit in Putin’s war against Ukraine.” He also called the move a “poorly concealed attempt to mitigate the havoc caused by Trump’s illegal war in Iran.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia would repay the deal “with further terror and perfidy,” describing it as an investment that allows the war to be prolonged.
An energy analyst said the arrangement is a “great benefit to Russia and to Putin.” Russia is trying to move its summer-grade diesel while it prepares heavier winter and arctic grades for the coming months. The International Energy Agency has said Russian diesel output has fallen by about 30%.
Coons’ Record on Russia and Sanctions
Coons has pressed for tougher action on Moscow for years. In July 2017, he warned that a Trump veto of Russia sanctions passed by Congress would be “a grave mistake.” He said then that “the idea that President Trump will negotiate tougher sanctions isn’t credible.”
In January 2022, weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Coons called on Congress to “take up and pass a bipartisan bill that will show resolve and determination and apply some sanctions now.” After the invasion began, he said the United States must “swiftly join our NATO allies and partners in the European Union to impose forceful new sanctions on Russia.”
On February 24, 2026, the fourth anniversary of the invasion, Coons said the United States “cannot now betray Ukraine’s trust and hand over a victory to the Russian aggressors at the negotiating table.” He said the Trump administration “is making a tragic mistake in bowing to Russian interests instead of putting more pressure on Russia and those who help fund Russia’s war machine.” He called for “additional aid, stronger sanctions, and closer cooperation with our allies.” He had joined a congressional delegation to Odessa the week before.
Coons and the Iran War
Coons has been equally critical of the war with Iran that the letter cites as the backdrop for the diesel deal. On February 28, 2026, after U.S. and Israeli strikes began, he called Trump’s campaign “the beginning of a reckless new war of choice with no clear strategy and no clear endpoint.” He also called it “an illegal war launched without meaningful consultation or the consent of Congress,” while stating that “the Iranian regime is evil.”
He voted in support of a war powers resolution on March 5 and delivered a floor speech on the “human cost of war.” He represents Dover Air Force Base, where the remains of fallen service members arrive, and has said he attends dignified transfers as often as he can. On April 15, after what his office described as the fourth Senate Democratic effort to pass such a resolution, he said he had “just voted once again to end President Trump’s war of choice with Iran.”
What Comes Next
The White House has not announced any plan to withdraw General License No. 135, which remains in force through April 7, 2027. The license also raises questions about whether the administration will use the sanctions authorities Congress granted it last month. Coons and his colleagues have put their demand in writing and now wait for a response from the president.