Trump presses Kyiv to spare Russian refineries as diesel prices bite

Key facts

• Trump said the U.S. asked Zelenskyy to stop striking Russian sites that produce diesel, blaming such attacks for diesel shortages and price spikes.
• A senior European official described the U.S. stance as scapegoating ahead of Nov. 3 midterm elections and argued an energy ceasefire must be mutual.
• Russia’s foreign minister said Moscow will not halt its military operation or attacks during negotiations with Kyiv.

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President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine to halt drone and missile strikes against Russian oil refineries, specifically those producing diesel, framing Kyiv’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure as a principal driver of surging global diesel prices. Speaking to reporters during a visit to his Doonbeg golf course in Ireland, Trump said U.S. officials had asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to avoid hitting Russian sites that “produce diesel,” asserting that such strikes are “hurting the world” by creating shortages.

The remarks place Ukraine’s deep-strike strategy—intended to impose economic and military costs on Moscow’s war effort—into a politically charged transatlantic narrative. Trump explicitly rejected the suggestion that disruptions linked to Washington’s own Iran conflict, which has constrained Middle East oil shipments, are a major factor in the diesel spike. The article reports that senior U.S. officials, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have echoed the argument that damage to Russian refineries has contributed to an “energy shock.”

A senior European official familiar with U.S.-brokered mediation talks challenged the administration’s framing, calling it a search for scapegoats ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections and arguing the linkage to U.S. diesel supply is “absurd,” given limited relevance of Russian diesel exports to American consumption. From a European perspective, however, the underlying strategic issue is not U.S. pump prices but whether Washington attempts to constrain Ukraine’s target set as part of a de-escalation or bargaining track, potentially creating divergence with European security priorities and Kyiv’s operational logic. Any effective “energy ceasefire” would require reciprocity: the European official argued that if Washington wants Kyiv to stop striking Russian refining capacity, it should also secure a halt to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid.

Moscow’s position, as conveyed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Vesti news service, is that Russia will not pause attacks during talks, signalling limited near-term prospects for an energy-focused ceasefire. For Europe, this raises immediate implications for resilience planning—continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure sustain refugee and economic pressure, while any U.S.-driven limitations on Ukrainian deep strikes could affect Europe’s broader deterrence posture and the credibility of Western support.

Source: POLITICO Europe