Zelensky Now Has a Card To Play With Trump: Diesel

When President Trump meets President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations this afternoon, the Ukrainian leader will have an ace to play: a stranglehold on Russia’s diesel fuel production. Last year, when the two met at the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, the American publicly belittled the Ukrainian, telling him: “You don’t have the cards.”Now, Mr. Trump faces midterm elections in six weeks with American diesel prices at their highest level on record — $6.51 a gallon. This is almost double the level of last January. The world is going through a diesel shortage caused by two wars — Mr. Trump’s war on Iran, and Mr. Putin’s war on Ukraine. Mr. Trump prefers to focus on supply disruptions caused by Ukraine’s relentless, long-range bombing of Russian oil refineries.“Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine,” Mr. Trump posted yesterday on Truth Social. “A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission. This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended.”A key driver for inflation, diesel goes into trucks, trains, tractors, generators, boats, and home-heating furnaces. Largely overlooked by American drivers, diesel is consumed at half the rate of gasoline. It is the fuel of commerce.President Volodymyr Zelensky marks Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24, 2026 at Kyiv. Diego Fedele/Getty ImagesOn Sunday, Ukrainian missiles and drones knocked out production Sunday at Moscow’s sole oil refinery. With this, Reuters estimates that Ukraine has knocked out half of Russia’s oil refining capacity. The fiery attack on the oil refinery in Moscow, Russia’s press capital, got all the headlines. Yet it was only part of a wider campaign that over the last week scored less heralded hits on regional refineries — in Syrzan, Yaroslavl, and Ufa. Once the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, after the United States, Russia banned diesel exports last summer in the face of Ukraine’s unrelenting air campaign against the refineries. As Russia prepares to renew the ban this week, American refineries run at 95 percent capacity. “Many refineries around the world are already stretched to capacity,” the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a newsletter yesterday. “This leaves few available options to prevent a further tightening of supplies and higher prices in the coming months.”Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosts President Trump at Gracie Mansion on September 21, 2026. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography OfficeTotal American diesel inventories are at the lowest for this time of year since records began in 1982, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. As fall’s chilly weather approaches, record lows of home heating oil stocks are recorded in states facing tight Senate races, such as Alaska, Maine, and New Hampshire.Ukraine’s drumbeat of refinery attacks took place in the week after Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine agreed to stop attacking each other’s energy assets. Now, Mr. Zelensky has a strong hand to play with Messrs. Trump and Putin.On Sunday, the word “diesel” came up repeatedly in a telephone call between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Trump, the Ukrainian’s aides told reporters yesterday. On landing at New York last night, Mr. Zelensky offered to suspend his attacks on Russia’s refineries in exchange for a step-by-step move toward peace.President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky meet at the Oval Office on February 28, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images“There are ideas on the table for bringing peace closer, starting with strong de-escalation steps,” he posted on X, sketching a road map he plans to discuss today with Mr. Trump. “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.”Ten days ago, at the end of trip to Canada, Mr. Zelensky told CBC News: “If the Russians are ready for a ceasefire, yes, without conditions. Just cease fire and speak.” The Kremlin only agreed to a limited ceasefire on September 6, the day when American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made their first trip to Kyiv. Behind all the Ukrainian positioning and power plays in advance of today’s UN meeting is Mr. Zelensky’s conviction that, after four and a half years of war, Mr. Trump is the only world leader who can bring the two sides together to forge a real peace.

Zelensky Now Has a Card To Play With Trump: Diesel

Zelensky Now Has a Card To Play With Trump: Diesel

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