MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The Russian-American deal on diesel fuel supplies could shield Russian tankers from attacks in the Black and Baltic seas, Russian presidential commissioner for the protection of entrepreneurs' rights, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin told TASS.

"Considering that Musk (SpaceX head Elon Musk - TASS) reportedly throttled Starlink speeds by a factor of three, and the flow of intelligence data to Ukraine slowed down, it turns out there's a lot more to the diesel deal than first meets the eye. And not just, so to speak, certain consequences or a kind of tailwind, although those things shouldn't be downplayed. In particular, this means that oil tankers will be able to transit the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and will be protected in a sense. I believe the decisions regarding intelligence data and Starlink are, in one way or another, linked to the security of transporting products such as diesel fuel," Shokhin said in his first interview after being appointed business ombudsman.

It's also possible that the diesel deal could lead to further developments in other areas of economic cooperation, he added.

"Let’s hope that the work on diesel concludes successfully, as it were, and that it doesn’t just end with the US midterm elections in November, but evolves into other similar deals. Honestly, this approach seems more promising to me than the project to build a tunnel beneath the Bering Strait," Shokhin noted.

"Therefore, I would like this diesel deal to serve as an example of how sensible politicians can not only just remove sanctions, but look for windows of opportunity allowing for the gradual normalization of relations," he said.