Trump Tells Zelenskyy to Stop Strikes on Russian Diesel Infrastructure as Supply Tightens

President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday to stop attacks on Russian diesel infrastructure, arguing that Kyiv’s campaign is worsening a shortage that has pushed U.S. diesel prices close to $6 a gallon. The request puts Washington at odds with one of Ukraine’s main methods of pressuring Russia’s war economy at a time when refined-fuel markets are already under strain.

Speaking to reporters in Ireland, Trump said, “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.” He said Ukraine could continue striking other targets, but not diesel facilities, and said he had raised the issue with Zelenskyy. Reuters and the Associated Press both reported the remarks after reporters questioned Trump about his recent contacts with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

The president presented Ukraine’s attacks as a major reason for the diesel shortage. Official U.S. energy data show that the market is indeed unusually tight, but they point to a broader global supply problem rather than a single cause. Russia’s own government has also spent much of 2026 restricting fuel exports and adopting measures intended to protect domestic availability.

A near-$6 U.S. diesel market raises the stakes

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an average national on-highway diesel price of $5.967 a gallon for the week of September 7. That was 36.8 cents higher than a week earlier and $2.201 above the level a year earlier, a sharp increase for a fuel that feeds directly into trucking, agriculture, construction and other parts of the economy.

The inventory picture is also tight. In its September Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA forecast that U.S. distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, would fall below 100 million barrels in September and remain below the five-year low through the end of 2026 and for much of 2027. The agency said global distillate production is expected to remain below last year’s levels in the coming months, contributing to low U.S. inventories and high diesel prices.

That distinction matters for Trump’s claim. Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries can remove or delay barrels from a globally traded fuel market, so additional damage can add pressure when inventories are already thin. The EIA’s outlook, however, describes a wider shortage shaped by weak global distillate production and trade flows, not a problem it attributes solely to Ukraine’s campaign against Russia.

U.S. weekly supply data released September 10 also showed only 28.6 days of distillate supply as of September 4. Domestic distillate production had risen during that week, but high prices and low inventories remained the central concern in the EIA’s September outlook. The next weekly retail diesel price update is due September 15, followed by the next weekly petroleum supply report on September 16.

Ukraine has made Russian refineries a strategic target

Kyiv has openly treated Russia’s refining system as part of the economic and military infrastructure supporting the invasion. Zelenskyy said on June 1 that Ukrainian forces had struck 15 Russian oil refineries between January and May. On August 10, he said another strike had hit a refinery in Tobolsk, Siberia, more than 2,500 kilometers from Ukraine, and said there would be more Ukrainian deep strikes.

Those figures and strike descriptions are Ukrainian government claims, and the scale of physical damage at each facility is not always independently verifiable in real time. What is clear from Kyiv’s public position is the purpose of the campaign: reduce Russia’s ability to refine fuel, disrupt logistics and impose additional economic costs on the war effort. Zelenskyy has repeatedly described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s long-range pressure on Russia and as a response to continued Russian strikes.

Trump’s request therefore asks Kyiv to carve diesel-related targets out of a broader strategy that Ukrainian officials have spent months expanding. He did not call for Ukraine to end all strikes inside Russia. Instead, his public objection was specific to diesel, reflecting the growing economic sensitivity of refined-fuel supply in the United States and other markets.

That creates a difficult trade-off for Kyiv. Damage to Russian fuel infrastructure is valuable to Ukraine precisely because diesel is essential to military transport, industry and the civilian economy. The same scarcity that can increase pressure on Moscow can also tighten international supply, particularly when other refining centers are disrupted or when inventories elsewhere are already low.

Moscow has already tightened fuel-market controls

Russia’s own policy steps show that fuel availability has been a concern well before Trump’s latest remarks. On July 30, the Russian government announced new temporary export restrictions covering gasoline, diesel, marine fuel and gas oils from August 1 through January 31, 2027, saying the measures were intended to maintain stability in the domestic fuel market.

The current rules are more nuanced than a blanket diesel-export shutdown. Since September 1, diesel, marine fuel and gas oils exported directly by Russian producers are exempt from the restriction, while other limits remain in place. The same July package included temporary arrangements intended to secure fuel supplies for agricultural producers during seasonal field work and to reduce the risk of disruptions in government fuel procurement.

Russia’s Energy Ministry had already acknowledged supply problems linked to attacks earlier in the year. In June, it said an increase in aerial attacks on energy facilities had caused temporary fuel-supply difficulties in some southern regions. In July, the ministry said it was coordinating with regional authorities and oil companies to keep the domestic market supplied, and the government backed a proposed diesel import mechanism that could create incentives for additional imports if needed.

Those measures do not prove that Ukrainian strikes are solely responsible for the global diesel squeeze, and Moscow has its own reasons to frame wartime supply problems around Ukrainian attacks. They do show that refinery security, domestic fuel distribution and export policy have become increasingly connected as the war reaches deeper into Russia’s energy system.

Trump’s intervention now puts that pressure campaign directly into U.S.-Ukraine diplomacy. The next official U.S. diesel and inventory releases will provide an early test of whether the domestic market continues tightening after the latest price jump, while any response from Kyiv will show whether Trump’s request changes Ukraine’s targeting policy or remains a public appeal.