Trump calls on Zelensky to stop attacking Russian energy targets
By Imani Sutton · Reporting from Atlanta ·
While visiting a family-owned golf course in Ireland, President Donald Trump decided that the most urgent problem facing the global order wasn't the sovereignty of a nation, but…
While visiting a family-owned golf course in Ireland, President Donald Trump decided that the most urgent problem facing the global order wasn't the sovereignty of a nation, but the price of a gallon of diesel. As reported by The Moscow Times and CNBC, Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop "knocking out" Russian oil refineries, claiming these strikes are "hurting the world" by triggering a global fuel shortage.
The timing is no accident. According to AAA data, U.S. diesel prices topped $6.06 per gallon on Friday—the first time they’ve ever breached the six-dollar mark. Truckers and farmers are currently paying roughly 63% more for fuel than they were this time last year. Brent crude futures have jumped over 20% in a month to $108.41, while WTI surpassed $100 last week. Trump’s logic is a straight line: Ukraine hits refineries $\rightarrow$ diesel supply drops $\rightarrow$ American voters pay more at the pump $\rightarrow$ Trump looks bad. To fix it, he tells Zelenskyy, "Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel."
The cost of war is not a consumer price index problem
The strongest argument for Trump’s position is one of pragmatic economic stability. A capable advocate would argue that when diesel hits $6, it isn't just a number on a sign; it is a tax on every calorie of food grown and every piece of freight moved in the U.S. They would argue that the global economy cannot sustain a permanent energy shock, and that the U.S. must prioritize the stability of the global supply chain over the specific tactical preferences of a foreign ally. In this view, protecting diesel infrastructure is a move to prevent a global recession that would ultimately leave everyone, including Ukraine, worse off.
That argument is a lie because it treats the symptom as the cause. The "shortage" isn't a result of Ukrainian drones; it is a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the one that turned energy into a weapon; Russia is the one that has downgraded its oil output forecast to a 17-year low. To ask the victim of an invasion to stop targeting the aggressor's logistics because the aggressor's instability is making gas expensive for Americans is a breathtaking inversion of reality. It is the equivalent of telling a homeowner to stop fighting a burglar because the noise of the struggle is waking up the neighbors.
We have seen this panic before
This is the 1979 Energy Crisis all over again. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution caused a relatively small drop in actual oil production, but the market's reaction was a violent spike in prices that led to fuel shortages and political chaos. The mechanism is identical: geopolitical instability in a key energy region triggers a supply shock, and the political class panics, attempting to "manage" the crisis through diplomatic pressure rather than addressing the underlying volatility.
Trump is treating the war in Ukraine like the 2019 United States-China trade war, where he used economic leverage and tariffs to force a geopolitical pivot. But a trade war is about intellectual property and market access; this is a war of attrition. When Trump tells Zelenskyy there are "plenty of other targets," he is attempting to curate a war so that it doesn't interfere with the U.S. diesel price. He is trying to engineer a version of conflict that has zero cost for the American consumer, forgetting that the only way to have a "frictionless" war is to let the aggressor win.
The leverage will become a leash
The Kremlin has already smelled the blood in the water. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, noted that any call for Ukraine to stop attacking "civilian economic infrastructure" is welcomed. Russia knows exactly how to use this. They will not simply "stabilize" exports because Trump asked them to; they will use this public rift as a diplomatic lever to demand a ceasefire on their own terms or a formal recognition of their captured territories.
We know where this goes. Trump will not be satisfied with a polite request. He will likely move to link military and financial aid to diesel prices, threatening to cut off Ukraine if the refinery strikes continue. He will frame it as "America First," but the actual "load" of that decision will be carried by the Ukrainian military, whose logistics will be crippled by a Russian fuel supply that Trump helped protect.
The verdict is clear: Trump is attempting to outsource the cost of the war to the Ukrainian military to save a few cents for the American trucker. By prioritizing the pump over the front line, he is signaling to every autocrat on earth that if you can make a commodity expensive enough, the United States will eventually force its allies to stop fighting you.