On 9 October Mr Trump said he had held a successful call with Mr Putin and that Russia would release diesel onto U.S. and global markets. His Truth Social post named 300,000 tonnes immediately, 500,000 in November, 1 million after that and 3 million 'soon', depending on Russia's refineries. Russia's deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said diesel export restrictions were being lifted at once and put the 1 million tonne tranche in December. The Treasury's OFAC issued a temporary general licence for Russian-origin diesel, valid until 7 April 2027. The Kremlin said the 90-minute call focused on Ukraine, touched on Iran, and that Mr Putin would consider when to restart peace talks. Mr Zelenskiy called the move an investment in war, and Axios said Ukraine's government was surprised. Brent settled at
Diesel moves goods, farms and freight, so its price feeds into almost everything. The deal is a sanctions easing as well as an energy measure: it comes weeks before the U.S. midterms and while Washington is trying to broker a Ukraine settlement.
Forecourt prices follow wholesale diesel with a lag, and a few hundred thousand tonnes will not change the market on its own. Higher energy costs are what keep the Bank of England leaning towards rate rises, which in turn set mortgage and savings rates.
More supply could ease a price spike that is hurting households and firms, and keeping Russia talking may help diplomacy.
Allowing Moscow to sell fuel rewards it while its attacks on Ukraine continue, and Kyiv was not consulted in advance.
Treat the headline volumes with care. The immediate 300,000 tonnes is small against global demand and the rest depends on refineries. Watch whether Brent stays above
Reuters, AP, BBC, Financial Times, CNBC, Axios, Bloomberg, FinancialJuice, Irish Times (9–10 Oct 2026)
Trump says Russia will release diesel to world markets after a call with Putin. Kyiv calls it 'an investment in war', and Brent still settles above $104
Washington licensed Russian diesel imports the same day. Oil barely moved, the FTSE 100 gained 1.06% and the Bank of England is still expected to raise rates.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had held a successful call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Russia would release diesel onto U.S. and global markets, according to Reuters, AP, the BBC, the Financial Times and CNBC. His post on Truth Social named 300,000 tonnes immediately, 500,000 in November and 1 million after that, with 3 million tonnes to follow 'soon', depending on the state of Russian refineries. Russia's deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, said export restrictions on diesel were being lifted at once, although he put the 1 million tonne tranche in December. The Kremlin said the 90-minute call concentrated on Ukraine and touched on Iran, that Mr Putin would consider when to restart peace talks, and that both men were interested in attending the APEC summit in China in November. The U.S. Treasury's OFAC then issued a temporary general licence allowing Russian-origin diesel to be sold, delivered and imported, including into the United States, until 7 April 2027. AP described the move as relaxing pressure on Moscow to ease prices before the 3 November midterm elections. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called it 'an investment in war', and Axios reported that Ukraine's government was surprised. Reuters noted that Mr Trump's earlier steps to lift diesel supply have not yet lowered prices, and sources told FinancialJuice that a Trump directive would push officials to use the Defense Production Act and to bypass state rules that block energy production.
Markets took it calmly. Brent settled at $104.72 a barrel, up 0.42%, and WTI at $91.63, up 0.15%, FinancialJuice reported. The bigger physical shock is Hurricane Isaias: the consultancy MMA put the U.S. Gulf oil shut-in at 1.5 million barrels a day, or 72% of output, up from 63% on Thursday. In London the FTSE 100 closed 1.06% higher at 10,552.05, recovering from Thursday's 10,441.60. An Irish Times market report tied the gain to a retreat in gilt yields. The exchange is closed today, so that is the last reading until Monday. Sterling ended near $1.3233. The ratings agency S&P Global affirmed the UK's AA rating with a stable outlook, raised its 2026 growth estimate to 1.3% and said it expects the Bank of England to raise rates by 0.25 percentage points in late 2026, FinancialJuice reported. On Wall Street the S&P 500 rose 0.59% to 7,811.54, the Nasdaq 0.64% to 27,366.17 and the Dow 0.83% to 51,654.95; Bloomberg said tech shares rebounded from Thursday's scare over OpenAI's revenue. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.244%, and Pimco's Ivascyn told the FT it could reach 6%, a level last seen in 2000. Gold gained 1.51% to $4,219.9.