President Donald Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries as diesel prices in the U.S. hit record highs.
‘Zelensky has to do one Thing’
During his visit to Ireland on Sunday, Trump spoke to the press and urged Ukraine to go after legitimate targets. “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing,” he said. “He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” he added. Trump then said that Ukraine could go after “targets,” but not diesel, as the strikes were “causing a shortage of diesel fuel” globally.
“This isn’t done by the Middle East. This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. spoke to Zelenskyy about the strikes. “Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting the world,” Trump said. “We don’t want him to hit diesel fuel,” he reiterated, saying that there were “plenty of other targets” for Ukraine.
Notably, Russia had earlier banned the export of diesel through the end of September. The country is one of the largest exporters of diesel globally.
