President Volodymyr Zelensky said Donald Trump gave “totally false” information when he blamed rising US diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes against Russian refineries. Speaking on Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast on Thursday, Zelensky said the volume of diesel exports from Russia is so negligible that it has zero impact on prices in the United States, and accused Trump of deflecting attention away from Iran.
The remarks come as Trump has repeatedly said Kyiv is worsening a global energy crisis by continuing attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Russia has historically been the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, behind only the United States, with roughly 10% of global exports. Disruptions to those supplies have tightened the market and lifted prices even in countries that do not import Russian fuel directly, including the US.
Zelensky asked why American companies export energy if US prices are the concern, and said a US president cannot ban private-sector exports because sales bring in money. He said the root of the problem is the Strait of Hormuz, where crude exports and other maritime traffic have dwindled to a trickle since the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran began in February. He also said everything is being shifted onto Ukraine and that he is being made the target as the country’s leader.
Earlier this month Zelensky criticised what he called a weak decision after Washington temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports to ease the global fuel crisis. Moscow agreed to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately to American and global markets, then 500,000 tons in November, another million tons shortly after that, and potentially another 3 million tons depending on refinery capacity.
Washington reached that arrangement after Zelensky repeatedly ignored Trump’s requests to stop striking Russian refineries. Trump said he had told Ukraine it could do what it wanted to Russia except hit the refineries, because that was a world problem, and later accused Zelensky of hitting diesel fuel and wanting to make problems for the world. Trump also said he found Zelensky harder to deal with than Russian President Vladimir Putin and suggested Ukraine should get a new leader who would not obstruct Washington’s mediation.
US diesel prices have become a pressing domestic issue for Trump ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. Prices surged to record highs above $6.50 a gallon in September, and exceeded $8 in some parts of California. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Zelensky was directly challenging Trump by refusing a deal meant to ease the global diesel shortage.
In recent months Ukraine has increased long-range strikes on targets inside Russia, including civilian and energy infrastructure, as it faces continued setbacks at the front. Moscow has called the attacks terrorism and has responded with strikes on Ukrainian military-related facilities.