President Donald Trump has attributed the recent surge in diesel prices primarily to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, insisting the issue is “more of a Russia problem” than a Middle Eastern one. In remarks reported on September 28, 2026, he stated that “the big problem is the refineries in Russia are being blown up” as Ukraine and Russia continue their conflict, with Ukrainian forces specifically targeting diesel refining capacity. Trump noted that Russia handles a large volume of refining and that the resulting damage has disrupted supplies far beyond the battlefield. He has previously pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to scale back such attacks, arguing they are harming global energy markets at a time when fuel costs remain a sensitive domestic issue.

Ukrainian drone campaigns have damaged or temporarily idled substantial portions of Russia’s refining infrastructure, contributing to domestic fuel shortages inside Russia, export restrictions, and tighter international diesel availability. These strikes form part of Kyiv’s broader effort to degrade Moscow’s war economy, while Trump continues to frame an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as essential to stabilizing energy prices worldwide. The comments come amid concurrent disruptions linked to Middle East tensions, yet Trump maintains the Russian refinery attacks represent the more immediate driver of the current diesel squeeze, raising questions about how far U.S. diplomacy will go to influence Ukraine’s targeting decisions and whether any de-escalation can quickly ease global supply pressures.