A tanker took on about 40,000 tonnes of low-sulfur diesel at Primorsk on October 13 before setting sail for Morocco, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.
Trump announced on October 9 that he had reached an agreement with Putin on supplies of Russian diesel to the U.S. and global markets. The same day, the U.S. Treasury Department suspended sanctions on Russian diesel imports and issued a temporary license for deliveries to world markets through April 7, 2027.
Russia, for its part, lifted a ban on diesel exports imposed in early July amid a domestic shortage of refined products. The embargo had been extended several times, most recently through October 31. Moscow announced the lifting of the restrictions on October 10.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia was ready to export 300,000 tonnes of diesel in October, 500,000 tonnes in November and up to 1 million tonnes in December. In time, volumes could rise to 3-3.5 million tonnes a month, he said, matching Russia's usual export level.
Novak declined to give details of the resumption of supplies, saying the information was a commercial secret.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian diesel had begun reaching the world market. He said it would have a positive effect on stabilizing oil markets, though it would not be able to stabilize them fully.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said foreign-currency revenue from diesel exports would support Russia's balance of payments. Novak, for his part, said the deal gave the economy room to increase oil production and refining.
International sanctions expert George Voloshin, in comments to The Insider, assessed the fulfillment of the initial commitment of 300,000-500,000 tonnes as realistic but doubted the promised growth in volumes. He said the main obstacle to reaching 1-3 million tonnes a month was the technical condition of refining and logistics: continuing damage to primary refining and hydrocracking units at key plants limits output of winter-grade diesel. To export up to 3 million tonnes without risking a fuel crisis, Russian oil companies would need not only to fully restore capacity but also to prioritize export shipments at the expense of building up strategic reserves inside the country, which looks difficult to achieve.
On October 11, Trump announced the immediate entry into force of an energy truce between Russia and Ukraine, saying both sides had agreed to stop mutual strikes on energy infrastructure. The next day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was observing the truce while Russia continued to attack its energy infrastructure.
Zelensky also said in an interview with NPR that the Trump administration had threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Kyiv if Ukrainian forces did not halt strikes on refineries inside Russia. He soon warned that Kyiv would resume strikes on Russian oil refineries after a three-day pause that Ukrainian forces had observed at the request of the United States. "The ban is lifted. We have had enough," Zelensky said.