Gregory Brew

“All of this is being driven by the administration's desire to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections to try to improve Trump and the Republicans' outlook in that vote,”

Gregory Brew · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-15

Brew said the diesel export deal with Russia was motivated by the Trump administration's desire to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections to improve the Republican outlook.

“If Trump really does want Zelenskyy to make concessions -- either to agree to this energy ceasefire or to permit this this diesel deal [with Russia], or to to bow to a broader deal that is maybe a little bit more favorable to Russia -- he's going to look for ways to to exercise that leverage,”

Gregory Brew · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-15

Brew said that if Trump wants Zelenskyy to make concessions on the energy ceasefire or the diesel deal, he would look for ways to exercise leverage such as curtailing intelligence sharing.

“I would imagine that the Russian requirement for this deal to move forward is a halt to attacks on refineries,”

Gregory Brew · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-15

Brew said he would imagine that the Russian requirement for the diesel deal to move forward is a halt to Ukrainian attacks on refineries.

“So this is all being driven, I would say, largely by short-term considerations geared around energy prices and the midterm election outlook.”

Gregory Brew · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-15

Brew said the diesel deal is largely being driven by short-term considerations geared around energy prices and the midterm election outlook.

“Russia needs its refineries to be operating under ideal circumstances in order to ramp back up diesel exports.”

Gregory Brew · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-15

Brew said Russia needs its refineries operating under ideal circumstances in order to ramp back up diesel exports.