Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended President Donald Trump’s diesel arrangement with Russia on Sunday, calling it an incentive for Moscow to reduce its war in Ukraine rather than an economic lifeline for the Russian government. “This is a carrot to try to end a war,” Wright said on ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s not an economic lifeline for Russia.” Pressed on why offering a carrot was appropriate, Wright said efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiating table had failed after four years of conflict. Trump, he said, would not simply accept that the war could not be stopped. “Clearly, it’s a tricky problem,” Wright said. The exchange underscored the administration’s case for using an energy-related deal as a tool of diplomacy, while leaving the arrangement’s specific terms and its expected effect on Russia unclear in Wright’s remarks. The central test for the policy will be whether the incentive produces a meaningful reduction in the fighting without strengthening Moscow’s ability to sustain it.