Russian diesel shipments to US stall as tankers alter destinations

Russian diesel shipments bound for the United States have stalled after compliance hazards forced multiple tankers to alter their destinations, hampering a recent U.S. Treasury effort to ease tight domestic fuel supplies.

According to a report released Tuesday by maritime intelligence firm Windward, only one of the three tankers previously carrying U.S.-bound Russian diesel is still heading for the East Coast, while the other two have adjusted course amid legal and regulatory uncertainty.

Automatic identification system (AIS) tracking data shows that the other two tankers have since updated their destinations, signaling a shift away from their original U.S. routes, according to Windward.

According to the report, the Russian-flagged tanker TALISMAN changed its declared AIS destination from "Atlantic Coast FO" to simply "For Order" as it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, leaving its intended region blank.

Additionally, the Sierra Leone-flagged tanker LERUO also changed its AIS destination from "Atlantic coast for order" to "Brazil for order," indicating a possible shift toward Brazil, according to the report.

The report noted that the two tankers are subject to sanctions imposed by the EU, the UK, or the United States, or a combination of all three, presenting compliance challenges for buyers, port authorities and maritime service providers. This may be the reason the two tankers adjusted their plans to sail to the United States.

The third tanker, the Malta-flagged AGIOI FANENDES, which is Greece-owned, initially listed New York as its destination but later changed it to "for orders," no longer clearly indicating a destination port.

However, based on its sailing trajectory, Windward judged that the tanker still appears to be heading toward the northeast U.S. coast. The tanker is not subject to the above-mentioned sanctions. On October 9, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a statement saying it would relax sanctions on Russian diesel trade in the coming months to ease tight domestic diesel supply and stabilize fuel prices in the United States.

Windward said that as of the report's release, no Russian diesel had yet arrived in the United States.

Russian diesel shipments to US stall as tankers alter destinations

Russia, the United States, and Ukraine will hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 10-11 to discuss key security and peace issues, Moscow and Kiev confirmed Tuesday.

The trilateral talks will focus on security and security guarantee-related issues, according to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who pointed out that one nation's security cannot be achieved at the expense of another's.

Peskov ruled out the possibility of Europe taking part in the upcoming talks in Abu Dhabi as a trilateral format was originally agreed. However, he said that Russia will eventually have a dialogue with European nations regarding Europe's future security architecture, once it is clarified who holds the authority to negotiate on behalf of Europe.

On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined Kiev's key priorities for the trilateral talks, saying that Ukraine is interested in ceasefire in energy and key infrastructure, resumption of grain export via the Black Sea, and the acceleration of exchanges of prisoners.

He also said that the Untied States is willing to discuss security guarantees and post-war reconstruction for Ukraine.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that the U.S. will mediate working-level negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi to help end the conflict.

During a meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Oct 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to resume the trilateral talks in mid-November to discuss a security architecture for both Russia and Ukraine after the conflict.

Russia, Ukraine confirm trilateral talks with U.S. in Abu Dhabi on Nov 10-11