Trump calls on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian diesel plants

US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine should stop attacks on Russian plants producing diesel fuel. The head of the White House said during a visit to Ireland that due to Ukrainian shelling there is a shortage of diesel fuel in the world.

“Zelensky must do one thing. He must stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let them hit the targets, but not the diesel fuel, because that will create a shortage of diesel fuel,” Trump said.

In recent months, world prices for oil and petroleum products have continued to rise due to the war against Iran, which the United States and Israel launched in February. Since then, the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 25% of oil supplies and about 20% of liquefied gas passed, has remained almost closed.

In addition, energy costs are rising amid a large-scale offensive by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis. They are seizing new territories along the Red Sea coast, trying to take control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the second (after the Strait of Hormuz) key route for transporting oil from the Middle East.

Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia also suspended the operation of one of the most important oil pipelines in the East-West region, which allows Riyadh to transport oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz (up to 5% of the world's oil flows through this pipeline). The reason for this was an attack by drones launched from Iraq.

Bloomberg notes that last week the average price of diesel fuel in the United States exceeded six dollars per gallon for the first time. The publication says the potential economic consequences of such price increases could be enormous.

“While the most important thing for most American motorists is the cost of regular gasoline, which is also up 54% from its January low, diesel fuel is critical to running trucks, freight trains and farm equipment,” the newspaper writes.

Export ban

Trump said that the main reason for the shortage of diesel fuel on the world market is Ukrainian attacks on Russian factories.

“It's not because of the Middle East, it's because of what's happening with Russia and Ukraine. We talked about this with Zelensky. There are many other purposes. Don't hit diesel because it's bad for the world. We don't want him to hit diesel fuel," Trump said.

At the end of August, Russia extended the ban on diesel fuel exports until September 30. The ban, introduced on July 8, was due to a shortage of fuel in Russia due to constant Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries.

Before this, Russia was usually the world's second-largest exporter of diesel fuel after the United States, Reuters recalls. The agency also reports that Russia has lowered its oil production forecast for this year to a 17-year low.

Ukraine insists that Russian oil refineries are legitimate targets because they help fuel the Russian army - and because oil revenues help Russia finance the war.

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