Russia deal embarrassing: US Senator
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, the co-author of the Russia sanctions act, slammed US President Donald Trump’s deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Moscow, terming the move as an “embarrassment”.
Blumenthal, along with late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, had authored the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which was passed by both Houses of the US Congress with an overwhelming majority, granting Trump the power to impose 100 per cent tariffs on top purchasers of oil and gas from Moscow. “The President’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel is an embarrassment and makes us complicit in Putin’s war against Ukraine,” Blumenthal said in a post on X on Friday.
The Senator asked Trump to rescind the agreement with Russia immediately and cautioned American oil companies. Ironically, it was Blumenthal who had warned China and India to “clean up your act” and buy oil from elsewhere soon after the US Congress passed the Russia sanctions act on September 16. “To China and India: You better clean up your act. Buy your oil and gas somewhere else. Appeasement is not a strategy,” Blumenthal said on September 16.
On Friday, Trump spoke with Putin and announced that he has reached a deal with Russia to supply diesel to the US and global markets to cool down the rising fuel prices. “This poorly concealed attempt to mitigate the havoc caused by Trump’s illegal war in Iran will only benefit the Chinese and Russian economies & lead to the slaughter of more innocents in Ukraine,” Blumenthal said.
