U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday (September 13, 2026) called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record on Friday (September 11, 2026), soaring past $6 a gallon on average.

Ukraine has for months been targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry with long-range strikes, prompting fuel rationing across the country and causing Moscow to ban diesel exports in July, removing supplies from the already tight global market.

But the global crunch also came after the war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in mid-term elections in November.

Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Mr. Zelenskyy following his recent conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He responded by calling on Mr. Zelenskyy to halt strikes against Russia.

“Mr Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Mr. Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open.

“We spoke to Mr Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world,” he said.

According to a report published by the International Energy Agency, net exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf countries in August stood at “just over a quarter” of what they were before the war on Iran began in February.

“Disruptions to Russia’s refining system and a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks have compounded these losses,” the IEA wrote. It added that in February, combined next exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf and Russia “accounted for almost 45% of global seaborne trade.”

Kyiv says Russia’s oil industry both funds and directly fuels Moscow’s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has ramped up its air campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce Ukraine’s defences. Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter in what officials say is meant to demoralise civilians.

“A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and wounded at least three others in southern Russia,” a regional official said on Saturday (June 13, 2026), with nearly 100 people fighting to extinguish a fire caused by the strike.

 Russia-Ukraine Crisis

The attack damaged port installations in the Temryuk district on the Sea of Azov, near the Kerch Strait separating mainland Russia from the Crimean peninsula, which has been occupied by Moscow since 2014.

“As a result of falling drone debris, a fire broke out at a maritime terminal… one person was killed,” Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev posted on Telegram. He added that at least three people were wounded, according to first reports, and that 96 people had been drafted to fight the blaze.

The Russian Army said it had shot down a total of 177 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine has stepped up its campaign of attacks within Russia in recent months, claiming fair retaliation for Moscow’s own massive bombardments across the more than four-year-long conflict.

Kyiv insists that the Ukrainian Army first and foremost targets military installations and energy infrastructure, in a bid to deprive the Kremlin’s war chest of vital fossil fuel revenues.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg has floated the possibility of long-range strikes by Ukraine against Russia with American weapons, following the administration’s recent pivot on the conflict.

In a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday (September 28, 2025), Mr. Kellogg was asked whether Mr. Trump had authorised strikes deep into Russian territory — days after Moscow was accused of sending fighter jets and drones that violated the airspace of several European nations.

“Reading what [Trump] has said and reading what Vice President [J.D.] Vance has said, as well as [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio, the answer is yes,” he said.

“Use the ability to hit deep. There are no such things as sanctuaries.”

Vice President Vance said in a separate Fox News program on Sunday the U.S. was having “conversations” on whether to give long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv, a request Mr. Trump has previously denied.

“It’s something that the president is going to make the final determination on,” Mr. Vance said, referring to the missiles, adding that the U.S. was “looking at a number of requests from the Europeans.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a press briefing on Monday that there was “no panacea that can change the situation on the front for the Kyiv regime.”

“There’s no magic weapon. Whether it’s Tomahawks or other missiles, they won’t be able to change the dynamic.”

Mr. Trump said last week after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kyiv was in a position, with the European Union’s help, to fight and win “all of Ukraine back in its original form.”

Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea after an operation in 2014 and now controls regions in eastern and southern Ukraine following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

It marks a shift on Ukraine for Mr. Trump, who told Mr. Zelenskyy during a televised Oval Office bust-up in February that “you don’t have the cards” to beat Russia.

Russia has vowed to press on with its offensive in the three-and-a-half-year-long conflict, with the Kremlin recently dismissing Mr. Trump’s claim that the country was a “paper tiger” with a floundering economy.