With Diesel Prices at Record Highs, Ukraine Snubs Trump Request To Halt Attacks on Russia’s Oil Infrastructure

Ukraine is ignoring President Trump’s request to stop attacking Russian refineries and diesel production facilities, dropping bombs on what it says are legitimate military targets helping to fuel the war against Ukraine.The Ministry of Defense says its intelligence analysts and members of Ukraine’s general staff have determined that long-range strikes have knocked out more than 51 percent of Russia’s refining capacity. Recent strikes against refineries, including at Moscow, Saratov, and Syzran, come in response to repeated attacks on Ukraine’s power grid.“This is the result of carefully planned, methodical, and systematic work aimed at bleeding the Russian war machine dry and destroying its military-economic potential,” Defense Minister Evgeniy Khmara said in a release.Mr. Khmara added that Kyiv’s attacks are dealing a serious blow to Russia’s economy. “Our deep strikes keep bringing the war onto Russian territory,” he said.President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will continue to carry out the attacks in response to Russia targeting civilian infrastructure. “The Russians are escalating,” Mr. Zelensky said Sunday in an X post. “Now they are striking bridges. Do they really think we won’t respond?” he added.The oil industry accounts for about 20 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product and as much as half of its total federal budget revenues. Russia, once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, has stopped exports due to reduced production capacity. China has also limited its diesel exports to ensure sufficient local supplies.Mr. Trump, last month, blamed Kiev’s attacks on Russian energy targets for spiking global fuel prices, although the war with Iran has created a worldwide disruption in supplies. Mr. Trump later said that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop attacks on energy assets, but the attacks have continued. Mr. Zelensky has said Ukraine is open to pausing its attacks if Moscow stops its assaults first. “Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part,” Mr. Zelensky said. While China and India are the recipients of a vast amount of Russian oil, a combined 87 percent of crude export output, American gas prices are averaging $4.47 a gallon, up more than $1.35 year-over-year. Diesel prices average at record high levels, now $6.38 a gallon nationally. That’s up $2.63 year-over-year, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.Diesel is heavily used to operate farm equipment and commercial trucks, making it more expensive to harvest crops and bring agriculture to market. The elevated costs are helping keep inflation levels stubbornly high. Democrats have been using high fuel costs as a campaign issue in the midterm elections. As the war approaches a fifth winter, Mr. Zelensky has said he is receiving munitions and weapons from European partners while Mr. Khmara says the Ukrainian military has tripled production and procurement of long-range attack drones. He said production will increase in an effort to strip Russian resources and make it more difficult to resupply forces.Even with targeting aimed at vital infrastructure, Mr. Zelensky said Monday President Vladimir Putin is more interested in destabilizing Europe than action at the frontlines. He added that he is hoping for a trilateral meeting with Russia and the United States in October. A White House official told The New York Sun that Mr. Trump remains optimistic that a peace deal will ultimately get done as America plays a constructive role as an intermediary between the two sides.

With Diesel Prices at Record Highs, Ukraine Snubs Trump Request To Halt Attacks on Russia’s Oil Infrastructure

With Diesel Prices at Record Highs, Ukraine Snubs Trump Request To Halt Attacks on Russia’s Oil Infrastructure

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