U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt drone strikes on Russian diesel infrastructure, claiming they cause a global fuel shortage. The demand comes as U.S. diesel prices hit a record $6 a gallon. While Trump blames Ukraine, energy data and analysts point to the U.S.-Iran war, Houthi shipping disruptions, and pipeline shutdowns in Saudi Arabia as the primary drivers of the global energy squeeze. Ukraine maintains that Russian refineries are legitimate military targets.
Trump urges Ukraine refinery halt
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities are causing a global diesel shortage that is hurting the world
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump made his remarks regarding Ukrainian strikes while visiting a family-owned golf course during the Irish Open in Doonbeg, Ireland, on September 13, 2026
- ▪U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv in September 2026 to meet with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of peace mediation efforts
- ▪U.S. President Donald Trump on September 13, 2026, called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt military strikes on Russian oil refineries and diesel fuel infrastructure
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
- ▪Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes overnight into September 13, 2026, targeting the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, and the Slavyansk refinery in Krasnodar Krai
- ▪A Ukrainian drone strike near Nizhnekamsk in Russia's Tatarstan region on September 13, 2026, killed two civilians and injured 14 others, according to regional authorities
- ▪Russian forces launched a massive overnight drone assault on Odesa on September 13, 2026, injuring at least nine people, according to Odesa military administration head Serhii Lysak
Record US diesel prices
- ▪The U.S. national average price for diesel fuel rose above $6 a gallon on Friday, September 11, 2026, marking a record high
- ▪The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 285.4 million barrels of oil as of September 4, 2026, its lowest level since 1982
Middle East oil supply disruptions
- ▪Saudi Arabia halted its East-West oil pipeline on Friday, September 11, 2026, following a drone attack launched from Iraq, threatening a loss of up to 4% of global oil supply
- ▪Yemen's Houthi rebels seized control of the port city of Mokha on September 10, 2026, and captured Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on September 11, 2026
- ▪The ongoing war between the United States and Iran has knocked out over 20% of Middle Eastern refining capacity and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz
Legitimate military targets debate
- ▪National security expert Olena Lennon stated that halting refinery strikes would deprive Ukraine of an unusually effective source of leverage that has put Russia on the back foot
- ▪Quincy Institute director George Beebe argued that Ukraine's deep drone strikes have backfired by triggering damaging Russian counter-escalations on Ukraine's energy infrastructure
- ▪Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has defended strikes on Russian oil refineries, arguing they are legitimate military targets that fund and fuel Moscow's war effort
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