Donald Trump declared today that Russia has ‘lost control’ of its diesel industry after a Ukrainian blitz, with his own war on Iran driving US diesel to its highest price ever.
‘A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday morning.
‘This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended,’ he said, claiming 25,000 people, ‘mostly soldiers’, were being killed every month. ‘What a shame!’
The statement came hours after Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelensky to halt Kyiv’s strikes on Russian refineries during a Sunday phone call, the Financial Times reported.
The president’s message was ‘diesel, diesel . . . diesel’, a senior Ukrainian official on the call told the paper. A second official said Trump wanted Russian fuel flowing back onto the world market to push prices down.
Trump claimed a week ago that Moscow and Kyiv had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy sites, while blaming the global diesel spike on the Ukraine war rather than his conflict in Iran. Ukrainian officials said no such truce existed.
The US and Israel’s strikes on Iran in February effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes. US diesel hit a record $6.51 on Monday, according to AAA, up from about $3.76 before the war. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading at more than $100 per barrel.
The squeeze has become a headache for Republicans weeks before the midterm elections. Diesel prices are particularly important to the economy because the fuel powers trucks, trains and farm machinery that move food and goods.
Trump’s call with Zelensky came hours after Ukraine launched what Russian officials said was the largest drone attack ever on Moscow, setting a major oil refinery ablaze and killing at least two people.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 450 drones were shot down.
Kyiv’s drone crews have increasingly targeted the intricate distillation towers that are among the longest parts of Russian refineries to repair.
Around a third of Russia’s refining capacity has been knocked out, forcing Moscow to restrict refined-fuel exports and turn to imports from India.
The pressure comes as the war with Iran expands into Yemen, where Saudi Arabia urged Trump over the weekend to strike Iran-backed Houthi targets.
Trump withdrew at the last minute on Sunday as US commanders were lining up targets and troops had missiles locked and loaded, the New York Times reported.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized territory in Yemen in weekend fighting with Saudi-backed forces. The fighting has further threatened shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key route for global energy supplies.
The route has become more important as the conflict has disrupted other energy corridors, including Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which carries Aramco oil around Hormuz.
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https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16148305/trump-russia-oil-crisis-ukraine.html
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