National Defense

Russia Backs Trump’s Push To Halt Ukrainian Oil Strikes As Diesel Hits Record

Francesco Bandarin/Wikimedia Commons

The Kremlin welcomed President Donald Trump’s call for Ukraine to stop striking Russian fuel infrastructure as American diesel prices hit a record Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed the request on a daily conference call with reporters Monday and said global energy markets were worsening mainly because of “instability and new rounds of escalation in the Persian Gulf region,” Reuters reported. The national average price for diesel reached a record $6.23 a gallon Monday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

“Any call on the Kyiv regime to stop attacks on civilian economic infrastructure can only be welcomed,” Peskov said, according to Reuters.

Trump said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” telling reporters at the Irish Open in Doonbeg, Ireland, that the strikes were hurting the world, PBS NewsHour reported. The global crunch also followed the war on Iran, which curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

The strikes on Russian refineries also add uncertainty to the outlook for winter heating bills, Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Wolfe added that he assumes current prices will hold but that there is “considerable uncertainty in oil markets due to the war and the attacks on refineries in Russia.”

Gulf countries exported a net 390,000 barrels of diesel and heating oil a day in August, just over a quarter of what they shipped before the war with Iran began in February, the International Energy Agency said in a report published Friday. Damage to Russia’s refining system and a near halt in its product exports added to the shortfall.

The national average price for diesel passed $6 a gallon for the first time on Friday, when AAA put it at $6.06, WFAA reported. Diesel averaged $5.90 a gallon a week ago, and $3.69 a gallon a year ago, according to AAA.

Russia banned diesel exports on July 8 after Ukrainian strikes strained its domestic fuel market, and the ban on producer exports has been extended through Sept. 30, the Russian government said.

Russia is usually the world’s second-largest diesel exporter after the U.S., Reuters reported.

Peskov said the export ban should help boost Russia’s domestic market, according to the outlet. Fuel shortages have hit numerous Russian regions.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries in recent months have reduced Russian fuel production and triggered gasoline shortages across the country, Reuters reported. Ukraine says the refineries are legitimate military targets and that the strikes are intended to raise the cost of the war with Russia.