Russia plans to triple diesel exports by December – nuclear power for US data centres?
Moscow is lifting its diesel export ban early and plans one million tonnes a month by December. Kremlin envoy Dmitriev speaks of joint data centres with the US – including with nuclear power.
Symbolic image · Photo: Alexxx1979 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Russia wants to rapidly expand its diesel exports following the agreement between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that the diesel export ban would be lifted earlier than planned; 300,000 tonnes are planned for October, 500,000 tonnes for November and one million tonnes for December, potentially rising to up to three million tonnes a month later. The US administration has exempted Russian diesel supplies to world markets from sanctions until 7 April 2027. According to AP, Trump himself cited similar volumes, saying the purchase was intended to lower global energy prices.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told Russian Energy Week in Moscow that the two countries would soon announce important joint initiatives, TASS reported. Topics under discussion include joint data centres, also using Russian nuclear power plants, as well as projects in the Arctic and in liquefied natural gas. The first diesel export contracts are to be signed in the coming days, he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the deal, saying it brings Moscow extra revenue for the war and does not offset the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.