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Trump Pressures Ukraine over Rising Diesel Prices Ahead of UN General Assembly Meeting
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US President Donald Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a September 20 phone call to stop targeting Russian oil refineries, the Financial Times reported on September 21.
Trump expressed concern that Ukrainian strikes are worsening a global diesel shortage and driving domestic energy prices higher.
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While Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries hit an already fragile market, restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is the primary driver of the current diesel crisis, according to the International Energy Agency’s September oil market report.
Following the Middle Eastern chokepoint’s closure, Persian Gulf diesel and gasoil exports dropped by roughly 1 million barrels per day—accounting for the majority of the combined Middle East and Russian supply decline.
According to a senior Ukrainian official who was on the call, Trump’s messaging focused heavily on “diesel, diesel… diesel,” urging Zelenskyy to order the Ukrainian military to halt its deep-strike drone and missile campaign against Russian fuel processing infrastructure.
Another official familiar with the exchange noted that Trump emphasized his growing concern over rising diesel costs and stressed the need for Russian fuel supplies to reach global markets to ease inflationary pressures, according to the Financial Times.
The conversation came shortly after Ukrainian forces launched a major drone strike on the Russian capital, setting a key oil refinery ablaze in the Moscow region.
In a post on Truth Social following the call, Trump asserted that Russia had “lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry” and reiterated calls to end the war. US diesel prices reached a record $6.51 per gallon on September 21, representing a more than 70 percent increase since the outbreak of broader Middle East hostilities earlier this year, the Financial Times wrote.
Following the conversation, Zelenskyy stated that the discussion was “important” and noted that an upcoming in-person meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York “could change a lot,” the Financial Times reported.
“There is diplomatic momentum,” Zelenskyy stated, while reiterating in separate comments that Russia continues to escalate its aggression and target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
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Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign forms “part of the pressure that is actually working and the world can feel it,” maintaining that diplomatic efforts must proceed in parallel.
Ukrainian officials told the Financial Times that while Trump previously suggested both sides had agreed to refrain from striking energy facilities, no reciprocal ceasefire has been implemented as Russia continues its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian power grids and civilian infrastructure.
Despite a relentless campaign of Ukrainian strikes that has knocked out roughly a fifth of Russia’s oil refining capacity, Russian refineries earned unprecedented profits of 938 billion rubles ($11.13 billion) in the first half of the year.
Driven by soaring exchange prices and massive state “damper” subsidies, these windfalls have offset reduced refining volumes, even as direct and indirect damages to Russia’s oil sector mounted and Ukraine expanded its campaign to target shadow-fleet tankers at sea.
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-8352e4a84dd1e28e59cdf5da7a6ed790.jpg "Russian leader Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Russian buisnessman and billionaire God Nisanov is seen in the Kremlin on July 31, 2014 in Moscow, Russia. (Source: Getty Images)")
