Trump says Ukraine should halt Russian refinery strikes amid surging diesel prices

President Trump on Sunday said Ukraine should hold off on its strikes on Russian oil refineries, citing the growing surge in diesel prices amid the Iran war and subsequent energy crisis.

A reporter asked Trump while at his golf course in Ireland, during the Irish Open, whether he had talked to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump then called on Zelensky to stop the strikes.

“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing,” Trump said. “He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. We spoke to Mr. Zelenskyy about it. There are plenty of other targets. Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world.”

The president said that diesel prices were going up because “it’s having a hard time coming out of Russia.”

“And if that’s the case, that hurts the world,” Trump continued. “We’ve got to stop it.”

The average cost of diesel broke records on Friday as it reached $6.05, a 63-percent increase from last year when a gallon of diesel was $3.71, according to AAA . These rising prices are expected to push up the cost of everyday goods.

Ukraine launched attacks on a refinery in Siberia on Thursday, creating fuel shortages in Russia, prompting Russia to retaliate on urban gas stations. One attack focused on the city of Nizhnekamsk, which is the home of several key oil refineries, while another drone attack hit a crucial refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region near Crimea.

Russian forces have escalated the campaign against Ukraine with ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones striking Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the harsh winter season.

Gas prices have also skyrocketed in the more than six months after the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran began. Iran limited passage through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply is exported, affecting gas prices but also risking fuel shortages for airlines and airports across the globe.

The U.S. and Iran have been in a stalemate over the strait, though both sides have carried out attacks on vessels and bases in the region. The regime’s state media reported on Sunday that an Iranian ship was struck by an “unidentified projectile,” quoting Hossein Amir Teymoori, the governor of Qeshm.

Trump has said the conflict will end after the midterm elections and suggested that gas prices “ will drop precipitously ” thereafter. He floated the idea on Sunday that the U.S. could go into Iran and “keep the oil, like Venezuela,” referring to the U.S. oil deal with the South American country months after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.