President Volodymyr Zelensky said Donald Trump made “totally false” statements by blaming rising US diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes against Russian refineries, and accused the American leader of “deflecting the focus away from Iran.”
The remarks add to a public dispute in which 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 United States.
On Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast on Thursday, Zelensky said: “The volume of diesel exports is so negligible from Russia that it has zero impact on prices in the US. That is totally false information.” He asked why American companies export energy if US prices are the concern, and said a US president cannot ban private-sector exports because “It sells and money comes in.”
Zelensky said Trump was “deflecting the focus away from Iran” and that “everything gets shifted onto us and I’m made the target as the leader of our country.” He called the Strait of Hormuz “the root of the problem,” saying crude exports and other maritime traffic there have dwindled to a trickle since the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran began in February.
Earlier this month he criticised what he called a “weak decision” after Washington temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports to ease the fuel crisis. Moscow agreed to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately to American and global markets, 500,000 tons in November, another million tons soon after, and potentially another 3 million tons depending on refinery capacity.
Washington reached that arrangement after Zelensky repeatedly ignored Trump’s requests to stop strikes on Russian refineries. Trump said earlier this month: “We said, you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries, because that’s a world problem that’s caused.” He added, “And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel,” and accused Zelensky of 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.
Fuel prices have become a domestic issue for Trump ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. US diesel prices rose to record highs above $6.50 per gallon in September, and prices in California exceeded $8 in some areas. 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 inside Russia, including on civilian and energy infrastructure, as fighting at the front has continued to go against it. Moscow has called the attacks terrorism and has struck Ukrainian military-related facilities in response.