U.S. President Donald Trump on Sept. 21 urged Ukraine’s military to stop attacks on Russian oil facilities amid high gasoline prices and a jump in diesel prices worldwide.
Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Russia on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, striking oil refineries in Moscow. Ukraine and Russia have continued attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure despite an announcement by Trump last week that the two countries had agreed to stop.
“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Sept. 21 after he held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sept. 20.
He said that Russia has “lost control of its diesel oil industry” amid the four-year-plus conflict with Ukraine, calling for an end to the war.
“This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended,” Trump wrote in the post. “The whole World suffers as 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, are being killed each month. What a shame!”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on social media that Russia had downed more than 1,600 drones since Sept. 19, including 450 headed for Moscow. Several drones reached the premises of the oil refinery, and one hit an apartment building, he said.
“The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections,” he said. “The adversary failed to achieve this.”
On Sept. 20, the ruling United Russia party, which backs Russian President Vladimir Putin, was projected to keep control of the country’s national parliament. Russians were electing members of the State Duma, legislative assemblies, governors of several regions, and members of municipal bodies from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20.
Ukrainian strikes have knocked out a significant part of Russia’s oil refining capacity, triggering oil product shortages, fuel price increases, and long lines at filling stations in many regions across the country’s 11 time zones.
Also on Sept. 20, an overnight Russian attack around the Ukrainian capital killed four people, according to Kyiv regional authorities on Sept. 20. Drone attacks persisted in Kyiv and the surrounding region throughout the day, they said.
The call from Trump comes as Zelenskyy said that he and the U.S. president would speak in New York City in a meeting that “could change a lot” about the conflict.
“We agreed to meet in New York, and this meeting could change a lot,” he wrote on X.
“There is diplomatic momentum.
“There are ideas for de-escalation steps and for addressing fundamental security issues—energy security, food security, and the protection of human life. We are working together with the American team and are ready to take really serious steps.”
On the morning of Sept. 21, figures released by the American Automobile Association (AAA) show that diesel prices have increased by 1 cent per gallon to $6.51 on average across the United States—the highest-ever recorded by AAA.
As for regular gasoline in the United States, prices remained roughly the same on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21. The average price on Sept. 21 stands at $4.47, an increase of roughly 16 cents per gallon from a week ago and an approximately 37-cent increase from a month ago, according to AAA.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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