3 min readOct 15, 2026 05:30 AM IST First published on: Oct 15, 2026 at 05:30 AM ISTLess than a month after the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 was signed into law by US President Donald Trump, he has struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Russian diesel supplies into global markets. The late senator Lindsey Graham’s bill was meant to impose new sanctions and tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas, choking off the revenue that funds the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Trump’s deal does the opposite. It will directly bankroll that war and undermine the international sanctions against Russia already in place. Ostensibly, the President wants to bring diesel prices down “for Americans and, indeed, the World”, as he put it in a social media post. But the real motive may not be hard to decipher. Poll after poll shows the Republican Party trailing the Democrats, and with midterm elections less than three weeks away, the likely goal is to placate American voters. The plan may not work. Energy analysts largely agree that the 36 million barrels of Russian diesel covered by the deal won’t bring down prices significantly, and many Republicans are pushing back. Trump has also made Ukraine’s position more difficult by demanding that Kyiv suspend strikes on Russian oil refineries, a move that would weaken its leverage.From Trump administration officials such as Scott Bessent and Peter Navarro to the US President himself, India has been at the receiving end of Washington’s moral posturing over Russian energy imports. India was not only targeted by the Lindsey Graham Act, but also hit with an additional tariff penalty in August 2025 that prompted Indian refiners to reduce their purchases of Russian crude. Of course, energy security matters to the US. But it matters just as much to India. New Delhi should ask that its energy needs and costs be judged by the same standards as Washington’s. Throughout the war, India has maintained that its energy purchases are guided by national interest and the needs of its people. It has also put forward its own proposal to end the war and remained in constant contact with both sides in pursuit of a negotiated settlement.AdvertisementIndia is not the only country caught in this web of contradictions. Europe, too, has been left scrambling for a coordinated response. Treasury Secretary Bessent said that the EU has given Russia more money than it has given Ukraine, owing to Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. The episode, along with previous summits and offers of investments, also shows that Trump continues to be open to a rapprochement with Putin. For Europe, the lesson is clear: It must strengthen its defence capabilities and reduce its dependence on Russia for hydrocarbons and on the US for security.