Russia and China are both providing Iran with intel, targeting, drones, and other arms/equipment. Not limited to $$. And, yes. This is a trade off. We're hoping that if we serve up Ukraine, then Russia will eventually help us get a clean out in Iran.

samurai_science said:

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Rossticus said:

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Russia and China are both providing Iran with intel, targeting, drones, and other arms/equipment. Not limited to $$. And, yes. This is a trade off. We're hoping that if we serve up Ukraine, then Russia will eventually help us get a clean out in Iran.

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Reddit fan fiction

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I hope you don't really believe that!

Russia also appears to already be helping Iran rebuild their "nuclear energy infrastructure".

⚛️🇷🇺 Russia expands nuclear cooperation with Iran as Rosatom returns to Bushehr

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has increased its workforce at Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to 135 specialists following the arrival of nine additional engineers for scheduled… pic.twitter.com/dLXap08b0e

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 11, 2026

Russia? Probably. China? I think the chicoms are more pragmatic than that. They know we would find out and unlike the a Russians, they do care about our trade relations with them.

US and Europe are funding both sides of Ukraine vs Russia.

TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

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Actually, a lot of those channels have been shut down by Bessent....

TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

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I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

I am guessing that Russia will not be able to fulfill the contract for diesel fuel anytimg soon.

But, Trump has a contract for more diesel going into the midterms.

Rossticus said:

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Russia also appears to already be helping Iran rebuild their "nuclear energy infrastructure".

⚛️🇷🇺 Russia expands nuclear cooperation with Iran as Rosatom returns to Bushehr

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has increased its workforce at Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to 135 specialists following the arrival of nine additional engineers for scheduled… pic.twitter.com/dLXap08b0e

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 11, 2026

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Those are some brave mfers.

PCC_80 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

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I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

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Maybe. The US has asked repeatedly for years that Kiev stop bombing/striking refineries.

Those who are now accusing Trump of holding Zelensky back from striking Russian oil refineries might want to refresh their conveniently selective memories.

Biden took the exact same position. 💁‍♀️

Strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure don’t just hurt Russia. They drive up… pic.twitter.com/CqNHgMxlVb

— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) October 11, 2026

That for some reason was ok to do back in 2024 I guess.

BigRobSA said:

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Bright side:

It's not literal pallets of cash this time.

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At least we're getting something out of the deal.

PCC_80 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

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I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

I am guessing that Russia will not be able to fulfill the contract for diesel fuel anytimg soon.

But, Trump has a contract for more diesel going into the midterms.

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Russia doesn't need to provide diesel to the US.

I just needs to provide diesel to the market, and not to Iran, and US diesel prices will go down, and our military objectives will improve.

Trump is starting to isolate Ukraine because the government is more interested in staying in power to scrape cream off of US aid than they are in ending the war.

A tradition like no other!

BusterAg said:

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PCC_80 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

---

I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

I am guessing that Russia will not be able to fulfill the contract for diesel fuel anytimg soon.

But, Trump has a contract for more diesel going into the midterms.

---

Russia doesn't need to provide diesel to the US.

I just needs to provide diesel to the market, and not to Iran, and US diesel prices will go down, and our military objectives will improve.

Trump is starting to isolate Ukraine because the government is more interested in staying in power to scrape cream off of US aid than they are in ending the war.

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The only way to end the war that's thus far been accepted by Russia has been surrender to their full terms. They've said repeatedly that unless they get everything they want they'll continue on course.

Saying that Ukraine isn't interested in ending the war simply because they won't surrender (which over 2/3 of the country currently opposes) doesn't match the demonstrable realities and illogically exempts Russia from culpability in the matter.

The only logical reason to pressure Ukraine to surrender is if the US simply doesn't have the strength or intelligence to pressure Russia into good faith negotiation and compromise. If that's the case then the strategy makes sense since we'd be accepting that we're operating from a place of weakness compared to Russia.

Rossticus said:

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BusterAg said:

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PCC_80 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

---

With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

---

I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

I am guessing that Russia will not be able to fulfill the contract for diesel fuel anytimg soon.

But, Trump has a contract for more diesel going into the midterms.

---

Russia doesn't need to provide diesel to the US.

I just needs to provide diesel to the market, and not to Iran, and US diesel prices will go down, and our military objectives will improve.

Trump is starting to isolate Ukraine because the government is more interested in staying in power to scrape cream off of US aid than they are in ending the war.

---

The only way to end the war that's thus far been accepted by Russia has been surrender to their full terms. They've said repeatedly that unless they get everything they want they'll continue on course.

Saying that Ukraine isn't interested in ending the war simply because they won't surrender (which over 2/3 of the country currently opposes) doesn't match the demonstrable realities and illogically exempts Russia from culpability in the matter.

The only logical reason to pressure Ukraine to surrender is if the US simply doesn't have the strength or intelligence to pressure Russia into good faith negotiation and compromise. If that's the case then the strategy makes sense since we'd be accepting that we're operating from a place of weakness compared to Russia.

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Actually, I don't really think that the reason is logical nor does it have anything to do with any particular strength or weakness, but rather Trump's dislike of Zelensky and his like of Putin. I think it really is as simple as that.

TexasAggie73 said:

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With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

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55D-chess.

Or as the O&G and MIC swamp folk would say, "All is going as intended."

samurai_science said:

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BigRobSA said:

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Bright side:

It's not literal pallets of cash this time.

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Obama is sad

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No, hes very happy, as a matter of fact I'd say he's positively gay.

Quote:

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I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

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Winner. They can't provide something they have to use domestically.

Trump is very good at identifying who his political enemies/friends are. I've shared information/data stretching back to 2014 about how the Kiev regime since the 'maidan revolution' has been a proxy tool for the left primarily (Democrats/USAID/deep state/Biden crime family) but this was not particularly obvious to many until the 2022 invasion put it on blast (looking back to the 'perfect phone call' Vindman impeachment).

Trump doesn't always call out his frenemies when I think he should/could of course (he waited a long time for instance on Cornyn), but he tends to get around to it. There was never going to be a 'relationship recovery' though after the oval office snit fit Zelensky threw after meeting up with the Dems (which I'm sure Trump knew about).

Snubbing him on refinery strikes 6 times only aggravated an already incredibly annoyed/pissed off Trump who, no matter what one thinks of him is definitely an 'alpha male' character type. Ukraine is getting closer to losing access to starlink and ISR information I believe. I don't think Trump has any particular fondness of Putin, he just hasn't been backstabbed/badmouthed by him, and I suspect behind closed doors Putin is more amenable to just calling it a day at the current lines, plus we need things from Russia (such as LNG/diesel/titanium) in the market, unlike Kiev.

Question for our refinery folks here. What is the real bottleneck for domestic diesel supply? Is it crude supply mix, actual diesel refining capacity , something downstream of the refineries like transportation and distribution limitations, something else, or some mix of above ?

I'm not a 'refinery' guy but the issue as I understand it is that the majority of our diesel comes from the gulf coast, and the Europeans keep bidding for it as they desperately need it, so that leads to price increases.

That's the primary cause of the diesel crack/spread in the market right now, because as with California Democrats, Euro-weenies have crushed their own refining capacity for decades now, resulting in them becoming parasites globally for the refined output of others.

That makes sense but can we make more and if not what's the constraint?

Shaq and Vin are doing the best they can. Please be patient.

Rossticus said:

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BusterAg said:

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PCC_80 said:

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TexasAggie73 said:

---

With the new financial deal with Russia to buy diesel fuel and Russia sending money to Iran, could one say that the US is indirectly funding the war against itself?

---

I think that depends on IF Russia can provide the Diesel to the U.S.

I read that Ukraine is targeting Russian Refineries in general and more specifically Ukraine is going after the Diesel refining portions of the refineries. Tanks, trucks and Armored Personal Carriers run on diesel so the less diesel Russia has the less tanks Ukraine sees on the battlefield.

I am guessing that Russia will not be able to fulfill the contract for diesel fuel anytimg soon.

But, Trump has a contract for more diesel going into the midterms.

---

Russia doesn't need to provide diesel to the US.

I just needs to provide diesel to the market, and not to Iran, and US diesel prices will go down, and our military objectives will improve.

Trump is starting to isolate Ukraine because the government is more interested in staying in power to scrape cream off of US aid than they are in ending the war.

---

The only way to end the war that's thus far been accepted by Russia has been surrender to their full terms. They've said repeatedly that unless they get everything they want they'll continue on course.

Saying that Ukraine isn't interested in ending the war simply because they won't surrender (which over 2/3 of the country currently opposes) doesn't match the demonstrable realities and illogically exempts Russia from culpability in the matter.

The only logical reason to pressure Ukraine to surrender is if the US simply doesn't have the strength or intelligence to pressure Russia into good faith negotiation and compromise. If that's the case then the strategy makes sense since we'd be accepting that we're operating from a place of weakness compared to Russia.

---

The only way that Russia wins this war is if they convince the West that Ukraine can't fight perpetually at a standstill, and convince the West that sanctioning Russia to save Ukraine isn't worth the effort.

Putin is apparently winning the information game with some.

Ukraine's government should be more focused on doing maximum damage to Russia's military with US aid. They are not. They are more interested in Italian sports cars for their women.