Trump demands Ukraine halt refinery strikes as diesel surges

Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News on Sep 14, 2026

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WASHINGTON — 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 demand threatens to deprive Ukraine of one of its most powerful tools in damaging Russia’s economy in response to the war that President Vladimir Putin started. Russia has intensified missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, including targeting power and energy infrastructure. Kyiv has hit back with strikes on oil refineries that have led to widespread fuel shortages in many Russian regions.

Beyond its impact on Russia’s economy, the gasoline deficit is making the war that’s now in its fifth year more visible to ordinary Russians as drivers across much of the country confront limits on fuel availability.

Diesel and gasoline are produced at the same refineries and Ukrainian strikes have disrupted output of both fuels. The impact on diesel production pushed Moscow to ban exports, but it’s gasoline shortages that are being felt more directly across Russia.

Russia’s diesel export restrictions due to Ukrainian strikes have added pressure to a global market already squeezed by the war in the Middle East.

The Kremlin welcomes Trump’s call for Ukraine to refrain from strikes on Russian oil refineries, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, according to Interfax. Peskov didn’t say whether Russia would be ready to stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities in response, the news agency said.

Russia’s diesel-export restrictions have kept enough fuel away from the international oil market to affect global supplies, Peskov said. Before Kyiv’s flurry of attacks on Russia’s refining industry, the country was a major exporter of diesel, accounting for about 10% of worldwide trade.

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.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week rejected a moratorium on attacks against ships carrying civilian goods in the Black Sea, saying it was impossible to monitor and unacceptable to Moscow, the Interfax news service reported.

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.