President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia would "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to the US and global marketplace following what he described as a "highly successful discussion" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said another 500,000 tonnes would be released in November, a further 1 million tonnes sometime after that, and an additional 3 million tonnes based on the current condition of Russia's diesel refineries. He said the move, along with what he called "total control" by the US of the Strait of Hormuz, would bring down diesel prices in the US and worldwide.
"Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority," he wrote.
Trump later thanked Putin for the deal, telling reporters outside the White House: "To be honest, we have massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and it's diesel which is what we want."
Putin confirmed in a statement on Friday that Russia was willing to supply oil and petroleum products to the US market and global markets at large.
The agreement comes despite years of sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine. The latest US measures, announced last month, specifically targeted buyers of Russian oil.
Analysts told Al Jazeera the deal would likely have little effect on easing the global energy crisis, and that European countries could refuse to buy from Russia altogether.
Global fuel prices have surged as a result of both the US-Israel war on Iran and Russia's war on Ukraine. Tehran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies had been shipped in peacetime, since the US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran in February. Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, another key Gulf export route, was also recently attacked.