Britain Opposes US-Russia Diesel Deal, Streeting Says
Britain does not support Donald Trump's agreement with Vladimir Putin for the United States to buy millions of tonnes of Russian diesel. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said so on Sunday.
Streeting set out the position in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House on 11 October BBC. He said the deal reflected pressure on a US president facing elections in November to ease the cost of living. He said the pressure was real but the policy was wrong.
He said Washington and other allies should increase pressure on Russia instead. He said that would shorten the war and secure Ukraine's freedom. He said Britain's task was to help keep Ukraine and the US together.
The White House presents the agreement as an energy measure. It said it would lower US fuel prices that rose after the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran. Under the terms reported so far, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace BBC. Trump said the Russian diesel would be released immediately to US and global markets.
The announcement caught Kyiv by surprise. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had not been warned while negotiations were under way Reuters. He said the agreement would allow Moscow to raise funds for new military equipment to continue the war. Ukrainian and European officials shared that concern. They said it will help pay for Russia's war effort, much as any large energy sale hands the seller ready cash.
Axios reported that Trump decided to proceed after Zelensky ignored half a dozen US requests Axios. Trump has since defended the arrangement. A day after the diesel announcement, he said Ukraine should get a new leader who could reach a deal with Russia to end the conflict.
Streeting rejected that suggestion. He said it is a matter for Ukrainians to choose their leader. He said Ukraine is fortunate to have Zelensky's calibre, courage and integrity leading its war effort. Conservative shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith agreed on that point. He said Trump was wrong to call for Zelensky to go.
Griffith also criticised the substance of the diesel deal. Appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said it sends out all the wrong messages.
Streeting used the same programme to set out the Government's defence planning assumptions. He said the UK must plan on the basis that Russia could attack NATO, the Western military alliance, by 2030. He said Chancellor John Healey, who controls public spending, would use the coming Budget to plug a £4.7bn funding gap to pay for the Defence Investment Plan. He said the Government would set out a path to increase defence spending to 3.5% of national income by 2035 at next year's Spending Review, when long-term department budgets are fixed.
The broader context here is familiar in Washington, Kyiv and Whitehall. London wants to stay close to Washington. It does not want to endorse a transaction that, in Kyiv's account, gives Moscow fresh funds for war. Public dissent is therefore calibrated. It disputes the economics and the strategy, not the alliance itself.
Looking at what this means for the weeks ahead, two tests matter. The first is whether diesel flows alter US domestic fuel prices quickly enough to ease the White House's electoral problem, and whether that creates an incentive for further Russian energy deals. The second is whether Britain and other European allies can convert criticism of the deal into a joint proposition on pressure, including sanctions enforcement and military support, that Washington will accept. The Government's language on 2030 and on 3.5% is doing work on both fronts. It signals to voters that the threat is being priced in, and to allies that London intends to pay its share.
