President Donald Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure, saying the attacks are contributing to fuel shortages as Russia and Ukraine continue exchanging large-scale drone strikes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop attacking Russian diesel infrastructure, arguing that Ukraine’s campaign against refineries is contributing to fuel shortages inside Russia.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club in Ireland, Trump was asked whether he had spoken with Zelenskyy following his recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters.
“Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel fuel.”
Ukraine has spent months using long-range drones to strike Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities, arguing that the industry both finances Moscow’s war and supplies fuel used by Russian forces. The campaign has disrupted production and contributed to fuel rationing despite Russia’s status as a major global oil and gas producer.
Trump’s remarks came as both countries carried out another major exchange of drone attacks overnight into Sunday.
Ukraine said it struck a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region, with the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine saying drones hit a key processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm. Russian regional authorities acknowledged that an attack on an industrial facility injured three people, damaged an oil pipeline and started a fire, although they did not directly confirm Ukraine’s description of the target.
The latest round of strikes also reached Russia’s Tatarstan region, where two people were killed and 14 others injured near the industrial city of Nizhnekamsk.
Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone struck a tree near a parked vehicle, killing two civilians. Nizhnekamsk contains a major concentration of Russian oil refining, petrochemical, rubber and polymer facilities, while Mayor Radmir Belyaev reported that a fire had broken out at an unspecified enterprise.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones during the night.
Russia simultaneously launched hundreds of drones against Ukraine, with Kyiv saying Moscow deployed 453 unmanned aircraft of various types overnight. Ukraine’s air force said its defenses shot down or suppressed 409 of them, including newer jet-powered drones that are faster and more difficult to intercept.
At least nine people were injured during what officials described as a “massive” Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine’s principal Black Sea port.
The assault followed another drone strike Saturday that hit a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26 others. Russia has increasingly targeted Ukrainian cities, power infrastructure and transportation networks in recent weeks as winter approaches, while Ukraine has continued directing strikes at Russia’s energy industry. (CBS News)
Western Ukraine also came under attack, including an area close to the Polish border.
A Russian drone struck near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland and ignited a fire near a petrol station. Ukrainian authorities said the crossing itself remained intact and no one was injured.
“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
The border area is strategically important because crossings between Poland and Ukraine serve as major routes for Western military equipment and humanitarian assistance entering the country.
Earlier in the week, two people were killed when Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk separately said a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point had been avoided through cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv. Tusk did not provide further details or evidence directly attributing that incident to Russia.
The escalating strikes are unfolding as Washington, Moscow and Kyiv again explore the possibility of negotiations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that Russia would not rule out restarting talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States as early as October.
“We are not ruling out that possibility. We are specifically talking about the foreseeable future. That is, October cannot be ruled out,” Peskov told reporters.
Ukraine has also indicated that preparations are underway for another possible round of negotiations.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said Kyiv was preparing for potential trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States, although no location has been announced.
The renewed diplomatic effort follows recent meetings by U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who met Putin in Moscow before traveling to Kyiv for discussions with Zelenskyy.
Despite the latest diplomatic contacts, Russia and Ukraine remain divided over the central conditions for ending the war, particularly questions involving territory.
Trump’s comments introduce another issue into those negotiations by calling specifically for Ukraine to stop damaging Russia’s diesel supply while allowing Kyiv to continue striking other targets.
Ukraine has treated Russia’s oil and refining network as a strategic vulnerability, arguing that reducing fuel production places financial and logistical pressure on Moscow.
Trump, however, is now publicly drawing a distinction between those energy strikes and other Ukrainian military targets.
“Let him go after targets,” Trump said, “but not diesel fuel.”
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