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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other\u2019s energy facilities, a day after he chastised Kyiv for hitting Russian oil refineries.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!\u201d Trump said on his Truth Social network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe World\u2019s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia\/Ukraine War, not Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no immediate confirmation from Kyiv or Moscow of any deal.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s claim comes as oil prices continue to soar in the seventh month of the Iran war, raising American fuel costs and inflation just weeks before crunch US midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The US leader has insisted that the Iran war will finish immediately after the midterms and gas prices will drop — but has in the meantime apparently found a new target to blame for the cost at the pump.<\/p>\n
Trump had lashed out at Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky during a trip to Ireland on Sunday, saying he had to do \u201cone thing\u201d and \u201cstop knocking out diesel fuel\u201d refineries in Russia due to growing shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he\u2019s causing a shortage of diesel,\u201d Trump said, again insisting the Russia-Ukraine war — not the US-Israel conflict with Iran — was to blame.<\/p>\n
Trump added he had spoken to Ukraine\u2019s leader about the country\u2019s stepped-up attacks on such sites over recent months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are plenty of other targets. Don\u2019t hit diesel fuel because that\u2019s hurting. That\u2019s hurting the world. We don\u2019t want him to hit diesel fuel… He\u2019s hitting diesel refineries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine has hit numerous Russian oil refineries far from its border with Russia, while Moscow has also intensified its long-range attacks in recent months, leading to a jump in civilian deaths.<\/p>\n
Kyiv has been firing record numbers of drones at Russia, while Moscow has been launching all-time high missile attacks.<\/p>\n
Trump said last week he had a \u201cgreat conversation\u201d with Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisting that Putin wanted to make a deal to end Moscow\u2019s war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Putin \u201cis wanting to make a deal, and if Zelensky is wanting to make a deal, that\u2019d be very nice,\u201d Trump told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said last week he would be willing to meet Putin at the G20 summit at Trump\u2019s own Doral resort in Miami in December, but the Kremlin immediately ruled it out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n