Donald Trump said Monday that Russia had “lost control” of its diesel industry following a Ukrainian assault, even as his own conflict with Iran pushed US fuel prices to record levels.
“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended,” he added, claiming that 25,000 people—“mostly soldiers”—were being killed each month. “What a shame!”
Trump’s post came hours after he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop Kyiv’s attacks on Russian refineries during a phone call on Sunday, the Financial Times reported.
The president’s repeated message during the conversation was “diesel, diesel . . . diesel,” a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper. A second official said Trump wanted Russian fuel to return to global markets in an effort to bring prices down.
Trump said a week earlier that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to halt attacks on one another’s energy facilities. He blamed the worldwide diesel price surge on the war in Ukraine rather than his conflict with Iran. Ukrainian officials, however, said no such ceasefire had been reached.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage normally used to transport roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil. According to AAA, the average US diesel price reached a record $6.51 on Monday, up from approximately $3.76 before the war.
The fuel shock has created a growing political problem for Republicans just weeks before the midterm elections. Diesel is especially important to the broader economy because it powers the trucks, trains and farm equipment used to transport food and other goods.
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Gastonia Municipal Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Gastonia, NC
Flames and smoke rise from Moscow’s southeastern oil refinery after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday
Flames and smoke rise from Moscow’s southeastern oil refinery after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday
Trump’s call with Zelensky took place hours after Ukraine carried out what Russian officials described as the largest drone attack ever recorded against Moscow. The assault set a major oil refinery on fire and killed at least two people.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian forces had shot down 450 drones.
Ukrainian drone units have increasingly focused on the complex distillation towers at Russian refineries. These structures are among the most time-consuming parts of a refinery to repair.
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The attacks have taken roughly one-third of Russia’s refining capacity offline, forcing Moscow to limit refined-fuel exports and import supplies from India.
The pressure on energy markets is intensifying as the conflict with Iran spreads into Yemen, where Saudi Arabia urged Trump over the weekend to strike Iran-backed Houthi targets.
The New York Times reported that Trump pulled back at the last moment on Sunday, as US commanders prepared targets and troops stood ready with missiles locked and loaded.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized territory in Yemen during weekend clashes with Saudi-backed forces. The fighting has added to concerns about shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital corridor for global energy supplies.
The route has taken on greater importance as the conflict disrupts other energy corridors, including Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which transports Aramco oil around the Strait of Hormuz.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russian Federal Customs Service chief Valery Pikalev in Moscow on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) attends a ceremony of the National flag rising in the reclaimed city of Izyum in Kharkiv’s area, Ukraine, 2022
Putin said this month he had ordered his forces to prepare a mass air strike campaign in retaliation for Kyiv’s attacks on Russian energy sites.
‘They are hitting ours. They’ll get an answer. That’s basically how it is,’ he said.
Putin is unlikely to agree to an energy truce before winter, when his forces are expected to resume attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, people briefed on his thinking told the FT.
One senior Ukrainian official told the FT that Trump may be holding the sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last week as leverage to get Kyiv to stop the refinery strikes.
Zelensky, who meets Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, defended the campaign Monday, calling the strikes ‘part of the pressure that is actually working and the world can feel it.’