Global energy markets have been roiled by soaring fuel prices ever since the outbreak of hostilities between the US-Israel alliance and Iran in late February, a conflict that has severely disrupted crude oil supplies – the foundational input for gasoline and diesel – and put intense inflationary pressure on consumers worldwide. Against this volatile backdrop, US President Donald Trump has found himself at the center of a growing political firestorm over a last-minute deal to import large volumes of diesel from Russia, a move that contradicts his own administration’s recent sanctions policy and has drawn condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.