Trump urges Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian diesel amid global shortage

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure involved in producing and distributing diesel, saying the strikes are contributing to a global fuel shortage.

Trump spoke after average diesel prices in the US crossed $6 a gallon on Friday (September 11), reaching a record high. Fuel prices are also emerging as an issue for Americans ahead of the November midterm elections.

Ukraine has for months targeted Russia’s oil and gas industry with long-range strikes, prompting fuel rationing in Russia and leading Moscow to ban diesel exports in July. The move further reduced supplies in an already tight global market.

The global fuel crunch has also been aggravated by the war in Iran, which has disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked by a reporter whether he had spoken to Zelenskyy after his recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump instead called on the Ukrainian leader to stop targeting Russian diesel facilities.

“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club.

“We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world,” he said.

The International Energy Agency said in a report published Friday that net exports of diesel and gasoil from Gulf countries in August were “just over a quarter” of their level before the war in Iran began in February.

“Disruptions to Russia’s refining system and a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks have compounded these losses,” the IEA said. It added that combined net exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf and Russia accounted for almost 45 per cent of global seaborne trade in February.

Kyiv has defended its attacks by saying Russia’s oil industry helps fund and directly support Moscow’s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has intensified its air campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones. Russian attacks have also targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter, with Ukrainian officials saying the campaign is intended to demoralise civilians.

Civilians were killed and injured overnight into Sunday as Russia and Ukraine carried out large-scale drone strikes against each other.

Two people were killed and 14 wounded near an oil and industrial hub in Russia’s Tatarstan, according to local officials. Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, reported Russian drone attacks on the Black Sea port city of Odesa and a fire near a border crossing with Poland.

The two Russian civilians were killed when a drone struck a tree near their parked car in Nizhnekamsk, according to the office of regional head Rustam Minnikhanov. The city is home to a major cluster of oil refineries and other industrial facilities. Mayor Radmir Belyaev said a fire broke out at an unspecified “enterprise”.

Ukraine also said it had struck a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region, near Crimea. Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence Directorate (DIU) said drones hit a key oil-processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm overnight into Sunday.

Krasnodar authorities said the attack on an “enterprise” in Slavyansk-on-Kuban injured three people and damaged an oil pipeline.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones overnight.

In Ukraine, at least nine people were injured in what officials described as a “massive” Russian nighttime attack on Odesa, according to Serhii Lysak of the city’s military administration. Odesa is Ukraine’s main Black Sea port hub and has faced sustained drone and missile attacks, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of seeking to disrupt its exports.

A Russian drone attack on Saturday struck a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26, according to Ukrainian officials.

Russian overnight strikes also hit western Ukraine, although there were no immediate reports of casualties. One drone set fire to a petrol station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and a spokesperson for the local customs force.

“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” Sybiha wrote on X.

The border crossings with Poland serve as a major route for military and humanitarian aid from Western allies to Ukraine.

Valentyna Chernysh, a spokesperson for the Volyn Customs Office, said the Yahodyn crossing remained intact and that no one was injured.

Earlier this week, two people were killed when Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday. The following day, a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing was avoided through cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defences shot down or suppressed 409 Russian drones of various types overnight, including a newer jet-powered model that is faster and more difficult to intercept. It said Russia launched 453 drones in total during the attack.