US President Donald Trump has called on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to halt long-range drone attacks on Russia’s diesel fuel infrastructure, arguing the strikes are aggravating a global supply crunch at a moment of acute energy strain.
Speaking during an official visit to Ireland on Sunday, Trump said the Ukrainian campaign against Russian refineries was contributing to fuel shortages that reach far beyond the battlefield.
“Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel,” Trump said.
“This isn’t done by the Middle East. This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” he added.
A Campaign Against Refining Capacity
A sustained series of Ukrainian long-distance drone strikes has targeted Russia’s fuel infrastructure in recent months, hitting major processing plants and significantly reducing the country’s refining capacity.
Russia is the world’s second-largest exporter of diesel, behind the United States, according to the marine intelligence firm Kpler — a position that gives any disruption to its output outsized weight in global markets.
Trump’s remarks landed as a separate conflict involving the United States, Iran and Israel pushed global energy prices sharply higher. The crisis has particularly disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for world oil shipments.
Global oil prices rose to $108 this week as fighting in the Middle East raised concerns about prolonged supply disruptions. US diesel prices hit record highs, topping $6 a gallon on Friday for the first time ever.
Escalation on the Polish Border
Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine continued to escalate their air war. A Russian drone attack overnight into Sunday struck a gas station in the northwestern Ukrainian town of Yahodyn, near the border with Poland, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Attacks on gas stations have become so frequent that at least one Ukrainian fuel network has begun installing mesh cages around its facilities in the capital, Kyiv, to shrink the impact zone during strikes.
The latest attack drew a swift response from Kyiv. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, condemned the strike in a post on X, writing: “Russia’s barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing point in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders. This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO.”
The border crossing was briefly shut but was operating normally again by 10 a.m. local time on Sunday.
Yahodyn is one of several Ukrainian-Polish border crossings through which a significant share of Western military and humanitarian aid is delivered to Ukraine.
