Trump Urges Ukraine To Stop Russian Oil Strikes As House Prepares Sanctions Bill Against Lindsey Graham | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump has called on Ukraine to halt airstrikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure needed for oil production and distribution, saying the attacks are leading to global shortages.
Trump made the remarks after diesel prices in the United States exceeded an average of $6 per gallon, according to an Associated Press report.
Moscow had to ban diesel exports in July as Ukraine continued to target its oil and gas industry with long-range missiles, causing fuel rationing across Russia. By halting exports, Russia further tightened the situation in a global market already reeling under the consequences of the US-Iranian war in the Middle East.
With his eyes on November’s midterm elections, Trump doesn’t want fuel prices to hit so high that his party’s chances of holding on to already slim majorities in both houses of the US Congress will shrink even further.
Trump’s comment ironically comes as the House is expected to pass Russia sanctions legislation that has received strong support in the Senate.
The bill, named after the recently deceased Senator Lindsey Graham, plans to impose tougher sanctions on Russia and countries that do business with Moscow.
However, when asked if he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after his recent conversation with Vladimir Putin, Trump said: “Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop phasing out diesel in Russia,” on the sidelines of the Irish Open, which is being played at his Doonbeg golf club.
“We talked about it with Mr. Zelensky. There are a lot of other goals. Not hitting diesel because it hurts, it hurts the world,” Trump added.
Russia has also stepped up its attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones. The attacks targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the approaching winter, which officials cited by the AP said were carried out to demoralize civilians.
A report released by the International Energy Agency on Friday said Gulf countries’ net exports of diesel and gas oil in August were “just over a quarter” before the US-Iran war began in February.
“The disruption of Russia’s refining system and the near-halt of product exports following intensified Ukrainian attacks compounded these losses,” the IEA wrote.
The IEA also said that combined additional exports of diesel and gas oil from the Persian Gulf and Russia “accounted for nearly 45% of global maritime trade” in February.
