Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries are at odds with US efforts to achieve peace, the Kremlin said. The statement comes amid an agreement between Moscow and Washington to resume Russian diesel supplies to world markets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the first quantities are already starting to be delivered. “Diesel has started to reach world markets and this is expected to have some positive effect on stabilizing oil markets. "Although it will not be able to completely stabilize them," he said.
First tanker set sail for Morocco
Russia lifted its ban on diesel exports on October 10 after an agreement with US President Donald Trump. The US president announced that Moscow had agreed to supply fuel to world markets in order to reduce pressure on prices.
According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, Russia has resumed loading diesel for export from the port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea. A tanker carrying about 40,000 tons of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel was loaded on October 13 and set sail for Morocco.
Trump said that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and the world market. He said another 500,000 tons should follow in November, and then another 1 million tons.
Market impact dispute
According to the US Energy Information Administration, these quantities are enough to cover the needs of the US transportation sector for less than four days. Trump is trying to lower diesel prices before the country's midterm elections, scheduled for November 3.
The deal was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European officials and representatives of Trump's Republican Party. Russia has dismissed the criticism from Europe as "cynical", pointing out that European countries continue to buy certain quantities of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas.
Against this backdrop, the Kremlin has linked the Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure directly to American peace efforts and Washington's attempt to increase diesel supplies to international markets.
Sources: bta.bg, noticias.uol.com.br