GOP lawmakers reject U.S.-Russia diesel deal, Trump’s Zelensky comments

Several Republicans voiced objections to the Trump administration Russian diesel deal and President Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine needed a new leader.

When asked about the deal, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Friday he supported the president’s decision but he doesn’t “support his decision to import it from Putin. Vladimir Putin is a butcher. He’s a butcher of his own people. And he’s a butcher of the good people of Ukraine.”

“He [Putin] will never be our friend. So the president is doing everything he can to get diesel prices down. But you know what’s going to bring diesel prices down? An end to the war in Iran,” he continued.

A reporter pressed former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who appeared alongside Kennedy while campaigning for Michigan’s open Senate seat, on whether he agreed with the president’s decision.

“No, not in importing it from Russia. I’ve actually called for a temporary export ban just to try to give some relief while farmers are out harvesting,” Rogers stated.

The deal would permit Russia to supply 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and the global marketplace amid growing pressure to address concerns over mounting energy costs due to global fuel shortages during the U.S.’s military operations against Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) unveiled a bipartisan bill on Saturday that he says would block Trump from lifting sanctions, called the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) already signed on as a co-sponsor though it is unclear who the Democratic sponsor on the bill is.

“[Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelensky has the overwhelming support of the United States Congress, he has the overwhelming support of the American people, and he has the overwhelming support of the Ukrainian people,” Fitzpatrick wrote on social media.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), former Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated he was “concerned the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin’s war machine—emboldening more violence and destruction, as we have seen in recent days.”

He added that Congress already passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act which “gave the president significant authorities and leverage against China and Russia to bring Putin’s war to an end with a negotiated settlement.”

In September, Trump signed the act, calling for the president to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the top five purchasers of Russian energy or on countries helping the Kremlin evade sanctions.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) similarly expressed on social platform X that Trump “should be using those authorities instead of allowing Russia to export diesel, rake in revenues, and continue its catastrophic war in Ukraine.”

“We can discuss Russia’s return to global energy markets once the war is over, but in the meantime, we need to cut off everything fueling it,” she said.