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Ongoing22 earlier updates45 days

This story has run 23 times over 45 days, starting Aug 26.

  1. CIA chief Ratcliffe makes rare Moscow visit
  2. CIA chief reportedly warned Moscow against a limited Russian attack on NATO
  3. CIA chief secretly met Russian intelligence officials in Moscow
  4. UpdateCIA chief told Moscow to end the Ukraine war before Russia’s military and economy worsen
  5. Russian drone hits ammunition depot near Kyiv, killing 38; four remain missing
  6. Russia's finance minister returned to the G20 in person for the first time since the Ukraine invasion
  7. Witkoff and Kushner meet Putin in Moscow Sept. 5, Zelensky in Kyiv Sept. 6, carrying a U.S. proposal to end the war
  8. UpdatePutin orders 72-hour halt to strikes on Kyiv while Witkoff and Kushner visit, after a three-hour Kremlin meeting
  9. UpdateWitkoff and Kushner hold first Kyiv talks of the war, agreeing on next steps but no terms; announcement promised in weeks
  10. UpdateWitkoff says Moscow-Kyiv trip produced 'substantive progress' on scheduling more talks, with no date set and no terms disclosed
  11. UpdateRussia resumed strikes on Kyiv after the truce, killing 7; Trump and Putin then talked for an hour
  12. UpdateTrump says Russia's president wants a Ukraine peace deal after their phone call
  13. House schedules vote next week on authorizing 100% tariffs on Russian oil buyers
  14. UpdateVladimir Putin warned that sending European troops into Ukraine means war with Russia.
  15. Trump announced a Russia-Ukraine energy truce Kyiv calls conditional
  16. UpdateThe House voted 214-211 to advance 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil
  17. UpdateCongress sends Trump a bill letting him impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil
  18. UpdateTrump signs the bill authorizing 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil
  19. Trump and Zelensky agree to New York talks, expected Sept. 22
  20. UpdateZelensky asks Trump for a mutual halt on energy and port strikes
  21. Zelensky (President, Ukraine) urges countries to limit trade with Russia to cut war funding
  22. UpdatePutin added a sale of Lukoil's foreign oil assets to US-Russia Ukraine talks; the buyers include Witkoff and Kushner business partners
  23. UpdateTreasury lifts U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel until April 7, 2027, after Trump says Russia will send 4.8 million tons — this issue
PBS NEWSHOURUpdate

Treasury lifts U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel until April 7, 2027, after Trump says Russia will send 4.8 million tons

Russia-Ukraine war
Political Guyentist · October 10, 20263 min read

PBS NEWSHOUR

No Russian promise to stop striking Ukraine's power grid was disclosed; Zelensky called it "a happy birthday present for Putin."

Trump said that after a call with Vladimir Putin (President, Russia), Russia agreed to send diesel to U.S. and world markets. Treasury then issued a temporary license, dated Friday, Oct. 9, that allows Russian diesel to be sold, shipped and imported into the U.S. It sets no tonnage cap.

Kyiv's reaction. Volodymyr Zelensky (President, Ukraine) said his team learned of it about an hour before Trump spoke, while meeting envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami. "I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen," he told Politico.

The deliveries. Trump announced:

Immediately
300,000 tons
November
500,000 tons
Right after that
1,000,000 tons
([TS]CBS puts this one in December)
Later, if Russia's refineries allow
3,000,000 tons

Still open. The White House has not said who pays or when the fuel arrives. Russia's own ban on diesel exports runs through the end of October.

Catch upwhat happened before · 22 earlier issues
  • Sept. 10 — After a phone call, Trump said Putin wants a Ukraine peace deal.
  • Sept. 13 — Putin warned European troops in Ukraine would mean war; Moscow rejected Europe's peace plans.
  • Sept. 15 — Trump announced a Russia-Ukraine energy truce that Kyiv called conditional.
  • Sept. 16–18 — The House passed, 262-159, a bill allowing steep tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil; Trump signed it.
  • Sept. 21 — Trump pressed Zelensky to stop hitting Russian refineries, citing diesel prices.
  • Sept. 23 — Zelensky asked Trump for a mutual halt on energy and port strikes.
  • Oct. 4 — Putin added a sale of Lukoil's foreign oil assets to talks; buyers include Witkoff and Kushner business partners.
  • Oct. 9 — Witkoff and Kushner met Ukrainian and European officials in Miami.
21 earlier issues
BackgroundWhat Treasury's diesel license permits, and what it still blocks3 facts
  • It bars Russia's central bank, National Wealth Fund and Finance Ministry from drawing on accounts at U.S. banks.
  • It does not cite the waiver in the Sept. 18 sanctions law, which requires Trump to send Congress a written national-interest certification first.
  • At the Oct. 8 gasoil price, all 4.8 million tons is worth about $7.24 billion; no buyer or price has been disclosed.

A stacked bar of the House vote: 262 yes and 159 no, 421 votes cast, so 62 percent of those voting said yes.

Chart

The House voted 262–159

103-vote margin, out of 421 votes cast.

The House voted 262–159A stacked bar of the House vote: 262 yes and 159 no, 421 votes cast, so 62 percent of those voting said yes. A reference line at 218 is labelled "218 for a majority of the full 435-seat House".
YesNo
The numbers
The House voted 262–159
VotesYesNo
House roll call262 votes159 votes
Source: House roll call, reported by PBS NewshourPOLI

What we’re less sure of6 of 8 claims

Red take

Trump's diesel deal puts fuel on American and world markets before winter without unlocking the money Putin wants most: Treasury's license still bars Russia's central bank, wealth fund and Finance Ministry from drawing on accounts at U.S. banks. Russia's export ban runs only through October, so the 4.8 million tons can follow. Turning them away would keep diesel prices up while Moscow's reserves stay frozen.

Blue take

No Russian promise to stop striking Ukraine's power grid was disclosed, yet Treasury handed Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, a sanctions break through April 7, 2027, for diesel his own export ban withholds through October. The license does not even cite the waiver in the Russia sanctions law Trump signed in September, which requires him to certify to Congress in writing that it serves the national interest. Ukraine's grid enters winter still a target.