Russia's Insatiable Territorial Appetite

"Look, reducing fuel prices is a very legitimate and necessary policy goal. The president has a number of positive initiatives in that regard."

"However, I don’t think lifting sanctions on Russia and buying diesel fuel from Russia and fueling their war machine, which yesterday just had another massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, killing women and children, knocking out their energy grid, so the Ukrainians will freeze, so my hope would be they kind of change their mind, beef up the other initiatives they have, turn that tanker around and go in a different direction."

"He was never going to stop with Ukraine. That’s why we’ve got to stop him in Ukraine."

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro

 

"[The agreement came after Presidents Trump and Putin had a] highly successful discussion."

"Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel."

"Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!"

"Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority."

U.S. President Donald Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, gestures speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff during their meeting at the Konstantin Palace in Strelnya, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Kristina Solovyova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

 

"The first oil tanker has sailed off to customers, and regular supplies will continue", announced Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, this first shipment amounts to 40,000 tons of diesel, an insignificant amount that will hardly make a difference in the United States where it is destined for. A pact with the devil that the U.S. president dresses up as a rescue from critical fuel shortages globally resulting from both Russia's war on Ukraine and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran with the Strait of Hormuz thrown in for good measure.

 

The 'agreement' with a territory-hungry predator whose absent conscience has no empathy for the fact that his 'special military operation' has been the death of over a million Russian servicemen, even before enumerating the lost civilian and military lives in Ukraine. A move to placate the grievances of Americans who are grappling with a higher cost of living, yet one whose practical results will be negligible, while disgracing the United States with its president's casual abrogation of its own sanctions, in the process throwing an economic lifeline to Moscow.

 

According to Marine intelligence firm Kpler, the diesel-loaded tanker was signalling a destination of New York, with an arrival of November 7, distinguished as the first such diesel delivery from Russia to the U.S. in over three years. The sudden reversal of U.S. policy sanctions on Russia meant to address the high fuel prices, with a beady eye on the U.S. midterm elections, the results of which will not be long in the coming. That 40,00 ton shipment equals 300,000 barrels, representing a mere 7 percent of the four million barrels of diesel the American economy uses daily. 

 

Malta-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes   Yahoo Finance

 

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, almost speechless with disbelief ("a weak decision by strong partners") at the arrangement the mercurial president has made with his country's lethal nemesis, has also been warned by Mr. Trump that he expects the Ukrainian counteroffensive to re-adjust its military goals, no longer to aim its missiles or drones at any diesel fuel refineries in Russia. The decision made to jettison Ukraine once again in favour of Russia's imperialist aims, according to industry experts is unlikely to make much difference to the high pump prices.

 

Ukrainian long-range drone strikes for one thing, on Russian oil refineries have produced their planned-for impact from the perspective of Ukraine's offensive. Ukraine, which pleads with its European allies to tighten their Moscow sanctions to deny revenue, in view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has made its impact there, but with this new and unexpected turn of events, its once-major supporter has turned the equation inside-out and upside-down, taking into account the various issues that Trump, sympathetic to Putin, has forced on Ukraine's president.

 

Mere weeks earlier than this reversal, the U.S. president had signed into law a wide-ranging sanctions package imposing up to100 percent tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas. Since the U.S. now represents the ultimate top importer at the pinnacle of the issue, that law has been nullified, flicked off with a casual motion of disregard by the American lawmaker himself. Failing the unconditional support of the U.S., President Zelenskyy looks beyond this setback to the potential of another round of peace talks: "We need diplomacy to move forward", he stated hopefully.  

 

A driver operates the diesel pump at a truck stop in Dunnigan, California, U.S., September 28, 2026. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

 

Russia continues to test Ukraine's allies, entering their airspaces in sovereignty challenges, 'accidentally' misjudging drone trajectories, launching cyber attacks. Moldovan police responded to a local resident who discovered a drone in his village in Tenesti District some 100 metres from a home. Moldovan President Maia Sandu declared a Russian embassy staff member persona non grata, in the wake of a Russian drone violating its airspace, crashing nearby residential homes. 

"Russia's war keeps putting Moldovan lives at risk. Today, a Russian Geran attack drone violated our airspace and fell near family homes and an energy facility."

"We condemn this latest dangerous act. In response, we have declared a Russian embassy staff member persona non grata."

Moldovan President Maia Sandu   

Firefighters are reflected in the broken glass after a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)