DOONBEG, Ireland — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukraine to stop targeting Russian oil refineries in light of the surging price of diesel fuel worldwide.
Trump, who is on a two-day visit to Ireland, made the remarks to reporters while walking around his golf course in County Clare, which is hosting the Irish Open tournament.
Asked about the current surge in global fuel prices, particularly diesel — which broke a record $6 per gallon in the U.S. on Friday — Trump insisted the spike was being caused by Ukraine rather than his own war with Iran, which has sharply restricted oil shipments from the Middle East.
Trump said officials from his administration had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop drone and missile attacks on any Russian sites that produce diesel.
“Mr Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump said during a pause on his tour of his Doonbeg golf course on Ireland’s west coast. “Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel fuel.”
The U.S. leader maintained that the conflict Washington initiated with Iran more than six months ago is not to blame for the shortfall. “This isn’t done by the Middle East,” Trump said. “This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. So we spoke to Mr Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting the world.”
Ukraine’s increasingly deep-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are seen as a key part of its strategy to make Russia’s 4-year full-scale invasion of the country prohibitively costly for Moscow.
But a senior European official familiar with U.S.-brokered mediation talks between Moscow and Kyiv told POLITICO that the Trump administration was searching for scapegoats ahead of crucial Nov. 3 midterm elections in the United States.
“This administration is blaming Ukraine because they do not know what to do with their war [in Iran],” the official said. “Russian exports of diesel and oil have never been significant for U.S. consumption. The very idea is absurd. Moreover, we have all heard President Trump say that America itself can supply as much oil as anyone wants.”
Trump is not the first U.S. official to blame Ukrainian strikes for the price of diesel. Last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CBS that “the diesel situation has been challenging because Russian refineries have suffered significant damage.” Days before that, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the “Fox & Friends” program that America was experiencing “an energy shock” partly because “Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refined properties.”
The senior European official said that if Washington wanted Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries, it should get Moscow to stop hitting Ukraine’s energy grid. “An energy ceasefire must be mutual,” the official said. “Putin does not respect this [U.S.] administration. That is why a ceasefire hasn’t begun.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Vesti news service on Saturday that Moscow would not pause its attacks during the talks with Kyiv. “We remain ready for negotiations, but the special military operation will not be halted for the duration of the talks. We have already been through this experience and drawn our own conclusions.”
Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv contributed reporting to this story.