An accord brokered by President Donald Trump to bring Russian diesel to the US has failed to find a willing American customer, leaving tankers offshore “awaiting instructions” as envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Ian Bremmer wrote. Trump announced the deal in October to supply roughly 36 million barrels of fuel to the US and global markets to lower energy prices driven up by the Iran war, and later said, “I didn’t lift diesel sanctions; I made it possible for Russia to give, not us, but to the world, thousands and thousands of barrels of oil, of diesel, which it needed.”

While the Treasury sanctions waiver helped Russia double its overall diesel exports to 271,000 barrels a day in October from 135,000 BPD the month before, according to Kpler data cited by the Financial Times, none of the fuel has reached US shores amid bipartisan political opposition and legal concerns. At least four Russian diesel cargoes initially aimed at the US are instead being offered to fuel distributors in Brazil after vessels including the Agioi Fanendes halted or turned away before reaching the US East Coast.