President Donald Trump called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russia's diesel fuel infrastructure and refineries, claiming the attacks are contributing to a fuel shortage. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters Sunday in Ireland.
Yet energy-market data indicates that the much larger source of the global diesel squeeze stems from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, raising questions about how much Trump’s proposal would even impact the shortage—and what it could cost Kyiv. Read More: Zelenskyy Faces Pressure to Hold Elections. Though the U.S.-Iran war has dramatically limited the distribution of oil since February, Trump said that it is not responsible for current shortages.
Zelenskyy about it.” Trump’s comments appeared to be referring to last week’s mediation efforts which saw U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visiting Russia and Ukraine to discuss a path toward peace. Witkoff said afterward that he was “confident that there'll be a good resolution here.” Washington’s intervention in the peace efforts had previously stalled last spring following the outbreak of war with Iran. Throughout the summer, as Ukraine stepped up its long-range attacks, it increasingly set its sights on oil refineries.
Overnight into Sept. 13, Ukraine targeted two Russian refineries—one of which, the Slavyansk Oil Refinery, is one of the “largest independent oil refineries in the south of the Russian Federation” according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Zelenskyy has not publicly responded to Trump’s comments, but he has previously said that these refineries fund and fuel Russia’s war with Ukraine. He said that his country’s attacks are meant to disrupt Moscow’s financing capacity.
"Every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war,” Zelenskyy said on X in April. Olena Lennon, a Practitioner in Residence of National Security at the University of New Haven, says ending the attacks would deprive Kyiv of an unusually effective source of leverage. TIME has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
Disruptions to Russia’s oil refineries have undoubtedly impacted Russian fuel markets, as well as those in Central Asia. When Ukraine intensified its attacks on Russia’s energy facilities in late 2025, the northern nation faced a domestic gasoline shortage estimated at around 20%. It began instituting export restrictions.
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