- Moscow insists Russian diesel shipments to the US remain on course despite tracking data showing two of three tankers changing destinations.
- Two tankers left Primorsk mid-October: Talisman now off Tunisia with no listed destination and carrying 324,000 barrels of diesel.
- Leruo's tracking shows a Brazil destination, while Agioi Fanendes still lists New York and was scheduled to dock Saturday.
- Kremlin negotiator Kirill Dmitriev dismissed reports as fake and linked to the Financial Times story on X.
- Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called shipment details commercial, saying all diesel will find buyers; Trump eased oil sanctions in the deal.
Moscow said Thursday that shipments of Russian diesel bound for the United States were still on course, after tracking data showed two of three vessels appeared to be heading to other destinations.
US President Donald Trump eased sanctions on Russian oil last month as part of a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to supply hundreds of thousands of tonnes of diesel directly to the United States.
The agreement caused uproar in Ukraine and Europe.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that two of the tankers — which set sail from the Russian port of Primorsk in mid-October — appeared to have changed their destination and were no longer headed to the United States.
“Fake. Tankers destined for the US continue on course,” Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy and negotiator, said on X, linking to the FT story.
One of the tankers, the sanctioned Talisman, was sailing off the Tunisian coast on Thursday, according to data from the maritime tracking site MarineTraffic consulted by AFP.
After sailing through the English Channel on October 29, it then turned south, skirted the Bay of Biscay and the Portuguese coast before entering the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar on Monday.
It had been due to arrive on the east coast of the United States on November 9, according to its initial route, reviewed by AFP last week.
According to the analysis firm Kpler, it now does not list any destination port and is carrying 324,000 barrels of diesel.
Another of the tankers — the Leruo — was on Thursday showing its destination as Brazil as it sailed southwest through the Atlantic.
A third tanker, the Agioi Fanendes, still had New York listed as its destination and was scheduled to dock there on Saturday, according to Kpler data.
Asked about the reports, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said detail of shipments were a “commercial” matter that could not be made public.
“All diesel will find its buyers,” he added.
