Trump’s diesel deal with Putin, a rebuke from Brussels, and a squabble over Europe’s enormous Russian energy bill

A diesel supply arrangement between Trump and Putin has drawn criticism from European leaders who say it undermines sanctions meant to pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine. Trump has countered that Europeans themselves have sent Moscow roughly $250 billion for energy since the war began, a figure both Russia and the EU dispute, though in opposite directions.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak put the total even higher, at $320.7 billion since 2022, including $21.3 billion in the first nine months of 2026 alone. A European Commission representative instead cited 197 billion euros, about $209 billion, over roughly the same period, while arguing the phaseout has saved the EU hundreds of billions compared to pre-war purchasing levels.

Eurostat figures show the EU paid 99 billion euros for Russian energy in 2021 alone, before the invasion. Russia's frozen sovereign assets in European depositories, estimated at 210 billion euros, remain a subject of EU discussion as a possible funding source for Ukraine's reconstruction.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.