U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a former CIA officer and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of leading the United States into a stalled war in the Middle East and then turning to Russia for fuel, a move she said aids Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Slotkin made the remarks in a post on X at 9:38 a.m. on October 13, 2026. They came four days after the administration announced a diesel arrangement with Moscow and temporarily eased sanctions to enable it.
Slotkin’s full post reads:
“It’s hard to believe that President Trump started another war in the Middle East, got us stuck, and now is forced to buy Russian oil from Putin, aiding and abetting the war Putin started in Ukraine, in which he’s now stuck.
Trump has always weirdly admired Putin, and now they share the same hubris that got them into failing and expensive wars.”
Slotkin attached a CNBC report on the arrangement to her post. Trump announced Friday that Russia will supply more than 4 million tons of diesel to the global market under a deal he reached with Putin during a phone call. In a Truth Social post, Trump laid out the schedule: more than 300,000 tons immediately, 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons immediately after that. Moscow would then deliver another 3 million tons, depending on the condition of Russia’s refineries.
The Treasury License
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135 on October 9, signed by Director Bradley T. Smith. It authorizes all transactions otherwise prohibited under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Regulations and the Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations that relate to the “sale, delivery, offloading, or importation, including importation into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin.” The authorization 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 of the Russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance.
The waiver temporarily lifts sanctions designed to deprive Moscow of revenue for its war on Ukraine. Those sanctions were imposed on Russian oil companies in October 2025. The report said the diesel exports could provide Russia with billions of dollars in revenue. Diesel prices fell after the announcement, but analysts said the deal may not be enough to keep them down. Diesel prices are up 70 percent since the United States and Israel launched the war with Iran on February 28, and the average U.S. price reached $6.28 a gallon on Thursday, according to AAA.
Zelenskyy’s Response
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the deal immediately and warned that easing sanctions without a Russian commitment to de-escalate would only prolong the war. In a social media post, Zelenskyy said:
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”
Political Pressure Over Fuel Prices
The deal comes as Trump faces growing pressure to lower fuel costs before the November midterm elections. Republicans are facing competitive races in conservative strongholds such as Iowa, where farmers are feeling the pinch of high diesel prices. The president has few options, given the destruction of global refining capacity by the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Trump considered a diesel export ban last month but relented after the oil industry and big business warned it would raise gasoline prices. This week he signed an executive order letting truckers use tax-exempt off-road diesel on highways without federal penalties, though the order only defers the tax obligation, which has created confusion over whether truckers may have to pay later.
The pressure is not limited to Democrats. Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has said the Iran war “needs to end, and quickly,” arguing that higher diesel prices are driving up broader consumer costs. Iowa Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson has called for a temporary halt to diesel exports.
Slotkin’s Record on the Iran War
Slotkin’s post follows months of public statements on the conflict. On February 28, the day the United States and Israel began major military action against Iran, she released a statement saying President Trump “hasn’t made his case to the American people.” She added that he “hasn’t laid out the goals or the imminent threat posed by Iran that justifies risking a wider regional war,” and that he “hasn’t followed the Constitution and brought this issue before Congress before committing our nation to war.” She also noted her own background: “As a former CIA officer who served three tours in Iraq, I have no love lost for the Iranian government.”
On March 19, Slotkin announced she had voted in favor of the bipartisan War Powers Resolution led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), which would require any U.S. participation in hostilities against Iran to be explicitly authorized by Congress. “I voted again to support a war powers resolution that would stop President Trump’s war of choice in Iran,” she said. She cited “13 U.S. servicemembers dead and hundreds more injured, huge cost hikes on things like gas and fertilizer, and a cycle of military escalation that has no end in sight.”
In April, Slotkin responded to a message from Trump threatening military escalation in Iran. “The President of the United States is taking his threats against the Iranian people to new extremes,” she said. She added that “targeting civilians en masse would be a clear violation of the law of armed conflict as laid out in the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual.” The release was edited after its initial publication, so the live version should be checked for final wording.
Her concerns about a drawn-out conflict predate the current war. After the June 2025 U.S. strikes on Iran, she said: “As someone who served in Iraq and saw up close the loss of blood and treasure over 20 years, I don’t want to be embroiled in another drawn out conflict, and neither do the American people.” A week earlier, after Israel’s operation against Iran, she described Iran as “a state sponsor of terror” but warned of “a spiral of violence that leads to real consequences for the U.S.”
Slotkin’s Record on Russia and Ukraine
On Russia, Slotkin joined a bipartisan coalition of 50 senators in April 2025 in introducing legislation for primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and actors supporting its aggression in Ukraine. The bill included a 500 percent tariff on imported goods from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products. “We need just, lasting peace for Ukraine – and that requires pressure on Russia not Ukraine,” Slotkin said then. “Enough with the games – let’s use every tool we can to secure Ukraine’s freedom and end this war.” She also noted that Michigan has a large Ukrainian population.
Earlier Sanctions Waivers
Friday’s license is not the first time the administration has eased Russian energy sanctions during the Iran war. In March, Treasury issued a 30-day waiver allowing purchases of Russian oil at sea. Administration officials defended it at the time as a way to calm markets. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the waiver could help “tamp the price spikes.” On March 8, Trump wrote on Truth Social that short-term oil prices “will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over” and are “a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.” The administration also waived sanctions on Iranian oil at sea on March 20, a step that drew criticism from lawmakers of both parties.
What It Means
Slotkin’s post links the two wars that have driven global fuel disruptions: the Iran conflict that began February 28 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year. Her argument is that the first has pushed the administration to ease pressure on Moscow, undermining the second. The administration has framed the waivers as a way to calm fuel markets. Zelenskyy and other critics say the revenue will help fund Russia’s war.
With midterms weeks away and diesel above $6 a gallon, the question of how to lower fuel costs without strengthening Russia is likely to stay central in Washington. General License 135 is set to run until April 7, 2027, and analysts have said the deal may not deliver lasting relief at the pump.