US President Donald Trump said that Russia has lost control of its diesel fuel industry because of the war with Ukraine. The post was published on his own social media platform, Truth.
The US president said that “the whole world is suffering” from the war with Ukraine and that it needs to end. “25,000 people are dying every month, mostly military personnel,” the US president added.
“Russia, unfortunately, has lost control of its diesel industry because of the war with Ukraine. A large number of their diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of service,” he said.
The post came amid media reports that during a phone call with the Ukrainian president yesterday, Trump asked him to stop strikes on Russia’s oil industry. The tense fuel situation around the world has persisted since winter, when the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran and Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of petroleum products is transported.
Trump and Zelenskyy spoke on the day of large-scale Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries in Moscow and ahead of the Ukrainian president’s visit to the US, which is expected to take place this week.
On 14 September, Trump claimed that Ukraine and Russia had allegedly agreed not to strike energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had indeed proposed such an initiative, but that strong steps by its partners were now needed to ensure Russia complied with the ceasefire.
However, Russia has not stopped its strikes on energy infrastructure. In particular, more than 100,000 residents of Odesa Region were left without electricity following an attack on 19 September.