Trump demands Ukraine halt refinery strikes as diesel surges

Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News on Sep 13, 2026

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President Donald Trump said he’d warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting oil refineries in Russia amid strikes that have shut down diesel refining and helped drive prices for the fuel to record levels.

“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing: He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump said Sunday on the sidelines of the Amgen Irish Open at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland. “Let him go after targets — but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel.”

Trump’s comments come as Russia and Ukraine increasingly target each other’s energy infrastructure as the war continues. Overnight, Ukrainian forces claimed strikes on refineries in southern Russia and Tatarstan, coming on top of previously reported attacks on the country’s Saratov oil refinery.

Refinery damage has already prompted Moscow to ban exports of diesel, a fuel so essential to the modern economy that it’s causing price spikes to ripple around the world.

Average diesel prices rose above $6 per gallon in the U.S. for the first time ever last week, driven by supply shortages caused by the war in Iran as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The potential economic ramifications are enormous. While most American motorists focus closely on the cost of unleaded gasoline, which has also risen 54% from a $2.795 low in January, diesel is an essential power source for long-haul trucks, freight trains and farm equipment.

For Trump, the issue poses a particular political peril ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of the House and Senate. Increased fuel prices are already cutting revenue and forcing business owners to charge more for goods as energy-driven inflation flows downstream, adding to cost-of-living concerns that already weigh on the president’s Republican Party in the November contests.

Trump on Sunday emphasized the global concern on fuel prices as he described his warning to Zelenskyy to steer clear of refining facilities in Russia.

“We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets,” Trump said. “Don’t hit diesel fuel because that’s hurting the world. We don’t want him to hit diesel fuel. He’s hitting diesel refineries.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how Kyiv would respond to Trump’s admonition or when the conversation he described took place.

The Trump administration has already warned Ukraine to curtail strikes on other energy infrastructure in the region, particularly Caspian Pipeline Consortium facilities and non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

Trump has sought to allay concerns about energy prices, and on Sunday reiterated his view that costs will plummet after the Iran war is over. He predicted that conflict would end “right after” or “maybe before” the midterms.

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