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KYIV, Ukraine: US President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 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 US hit a record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has for months been targeting Russia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
But the global crunch also came after the war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in midterm elections in November.<\/p>\n
Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Zelensky following his recent conversation with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin. He responded by calling on Zelensky to halt strikes against Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,\u201d Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open, which is being played at his Doonbeg golf club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke to Mr. Zelensky about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don\u2019t hit diesel fuel, because that\u2019s hurting, that\u2019s hurting the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Diesel exports from Gulf countries way down since Iran war began<\/strong><\/p>\n According to a report published Friday by the International Energy Agency, net exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf countries in August stood at \u201cjust over a quarter\u201d of what they were before the war on Iran began in February.<\/p>\n \u201cDisruptions to Russia\u2019s refining system and a near-halt to product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks have compounded these losses,\u201d the IEA wrote. It added that in February, combined next exports of diesel and gasoil from the Gulf and Russia \u201caccounted for almost 45 percent of global seaborne trade.\u201d<\/p>\n Kyiv says Russia\u2019s oil industry both funds and directly fuels Moscow\u2019s more than four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Russia has ramped up its air campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce Ukraine\u2019s defenses. Moscow\u2019s attacks have targeted Ukraine\u2019s power grid ahead of winter in what officials say is meant to demoralize civilians.<\/p>\n Civilians were killed and injured overnight into Sunday as Russia and Ukraine exchanged large-scale drone strikes.<\/p>\n Two people were killed and 14 more wounded near an oil and industrial hub in Russia\u2019s Tatarstan, according to local officials, while Ukrainian authorities reported on Russian drones pummeling the Black Sea port of Odesa and starting a fire near a border crossing with Poland.<\/p>\n Ukraine targets more Russian oil facilities<\/strong><\/p>\n The two Russian civilians died after a drone slammed into a tree near their parked car in the city of Nizhnekamsk, according to the office of regional head Rustam Minnikhanov. Nizhnekamsk houses a key cluster of oil refineries and other industrial plants. Mayor Radmir Belyaev said that a fire had broken out at an unspecified \u201centerprise.\u201d<\/p>\n Ukraine also claimed to have hit a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia\u2019s Krasnodar region near Crimea. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) agency said its drones struck a key oil processing unit and the refinery\u2019s tank farm overnight into Sunday.<\/p>\n Krasnodar authorities said the strike on \u201can enterprise\u201d in Slavyansk-on-Kuban injured three people and damaged an oil pipeline.<\/p>\n Russian forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones during the night, Russia\u2019s defense ministry said Sunday.<\/p>\n Russia targets Odesa and western Ukraine<\/strong><\/p>\n In Ukraine, at least nine people were injured in a \u201cmassive\u201d Russian nighttime attack on Odesa, according to Serhii Lysak from the city\u2019s military administration. Odesa is home to Ukraine\u2019s main port hub on the Black Sea and has faced sustained drone and missile strikes, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of trying to choke off its exports.<\/p>\n A Russian drone attack on Saturday struck a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26 others, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n Russian overnight strikes also pounded western Ukraine, though there were no immediate reports of casualties. One drone set fire to a gas station near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, according to Ukraine\u2019s top diplomat and a spokesperson for the local customs force.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Putin\u2019s terror \u2018knocking\u2019 directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,\u201d Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s border crossings with Poland are a conduit for much of the military and humanitarian aid sent by Western allies.<\/p>\n Valentyna Chernysh, a spokesperson for the Volyn Customs Office, told The Associated Press that the Yahodyn crossing was intact and no one was harmed.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, two people died when Russian drones hit the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday. The following day a \u201cdirect threat\u201d to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point was avoided due to the cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s air force said its air defenses shot down or suppressed 409 Russian drones of various types overnight, including a newer jet-powered version that is faster and more difficult to intercept. It said Russia had attacked Ukraine with 453 drones in total.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n