Trump told the country a week ago that Russian diesel was coming "immediately." None has come.
Alexander Novak, Russia's deputy prime minister, told reporters Wednesday that the two energy ministries are still negotiating a contract. Russia resumed diesel loadings this week, and the tanker that took on 40,000 tons at the Baltic port of Primorsk on Tuesday sailed for Morocco. The tanker everyone online tracked to the East Coast left St. Petersburg on Sept. 22, 17 days before Trump announced anything, and docked in North Carolina carrying fertilizer, by one ship-tracker's reading. As far as Narativ could find, no Russian diesel cargo has been confirmed unloaded in an American port.
What does exist is a license. On Oct. 9, the day Trump posted the deal, Treasury's sanctions office signed General License 135. It lets anyone sell, ship, unload and import Russian diesel into the United States "through 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, April 7, 2027." The contract was not signed first. The license was.
The White House has not said who is buying or at what price. Trump told reporters Tuesday it was "not a USA deal" and added, "It's not a deal with me."
Russian state television has said what the deal is for. Vladimir Solovyov, the Kremlin's main television host, told viewers Sunday: "If this deal comes to fruition, quite a bit of money will flow into our state coffers." He added: "I trusted Donald Trump, I felt that he would not let us down."
Do we have any proof that we're actually getting the diesel?
