“Diesel, diesel, diesel”: Trump again demanded Zelensky to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries — Media

“Diesel, diesel, diesel”: Trump again asked Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries — media

Trump spoke with Zelenskyy by phone on September 20. Afterwards, the Ukrainian president announced that he had agreed to meet with the White House leader on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session starting on September 22 in New York. According to sources from Axios and the Financial Times, during the conversation, Trump repeatedly told Zelenskyy that the Armed Forces of Ukraine must stop striking oil refineries (refineries) in Russia. These refineries, among other things, produce diesel fuel.

On September 13, Trump said that the rise in diesel prices worldwide was caused not by the conflict of the US and Israel with Iran, but by the Russia–Ukraine war. The US president also called on Zelenskyy to “do one thing” — to stop strikes on diesel producers in Russia.

The following day, Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop mutual strikes on energy infrastructure. However, this information was confirmed by neither Moscow nor Kyiv.

On September 20, the Ukrainian military struck a refinery in Moscow's Kapotnya district. This was part of a large-scale attack carried out across Moscow. Russian officials called this strike the largest attack on the capital since the start of the war.

On Monday, the US president again commented on the Ukrainian strikes on his Truth Social page.

“Russia, unfortunately, has lost control over its diesel fuel industry due to the war with Ukraine. Many enterprises producing diesel have been blown up or are at least temporarily out of service. This senseless and endless war with Ukraine must be ended. The whole world is suffering from this, 25,000 people, mostly military, are dying every month,” Trump wrote.

FT journalists write that they spoke with a high-ranking Ukrainian official who participated in the phone call between Trump and Zelenskyy. The source described the content of the conversation as follows:

“The American president's main point was ‘diesel, diesel, and once again diesel’. He called on Zelenskyy to order the military to stop drone and missile strikes.”

“The word ‘diesel’ was mentioned many times during the conversation,” another source familiar with the content of the negotiations told Axios.

According to another Ukrainian official who spoke with the FT, Trump expressed concern over rising diesel fuel prices. He also suggested that diesel exports from Russia should be established to reduce the shortage.

Is the Russian war against Ukraine really causing diesel prices to rise?

At the end of August, Russia extended its ban on diesel exports until September 30. This restriction was originally introduced on July 8. This was caused by a domestic fuel shortage following regular Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.

BBC economic commentator Aleksey Kalmikov explained that experts point to several factors causing the rise in oil and diesel fuel prices. Only one of them is related to the strikes from Ukraine on refineries in Russia.

The remaining reasons are explained by serious disruptions in the supply of oil and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf. This was caused by the US and Israeli attack on Iran and the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

The BBC correspondent recalled that about 30 million barrels of diesel fuel are consumed daily worldwide. Most of it is produced in the consuming countries themselves. However, previously, 7–8 million barrels of diesel per day were imported by sea.

About 20 percent of these imports came from the Middle East, and another nearly 10 percent from Russia.

In its article, the FT noted that the diesel fuel issue has become a political problem for the president in the US on the eve of the midterm elections.

According to the publication, the US war with Iran and the damage to infrastructure resulting from the Russia–Ukraine conflict are reducing fuel supply, leading to an unprecedented rise in prices in the US.

One of the Ukrainian officials who spoke with the FT expressed concern that Trump might be in no hurry to apply the recently passed “hell sanctions” law against Russia, which he himself signed. He suggested that Trump might be trying to encourage Ukraine to stop strikes on Russia in this way.

At the same time, the source did not rule out that the US president could also use these sanctions as a tool to pressure Moscow.

Zelenskyy wrote that the meeting with Trump in New York “could change a lot.”

“There are some ideas on de-escalation, as well as proposals on key security issues — energy, food security, and protecting human lives,” the Ukrainian president's statement said.

Zelenskyy also thanked Trump for signing the sanctions bill. This bill was actively promoted by American Senator Lindsey Graham, who recently passed away suddenly. The Ukrainian president also thanked Trump for the recent visit to Kyiv by the US president's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

During that visit, Zelenskyy announced that Witkoff and Kushner had brought some “new ideas” on achieving peace, but did not disclose their content.

The parties also agreed to resume trilateral peace talks involving delegations from Ukraine, the US, and Russia. Ukrainian and Russian officials expressed hope that such consultations could be held again as early as October.

Western experts, however, doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in a truce in the energy sector. In their opinion, Putin may try to force Kyiv to make concessions by intensifying strikes on Ukrainian power plants and other critical infrastructure facilities in the winter.