Trump Demands Ukraine Halt Strikes on Russian Refineries Amid Rising Gasoline Prices

US President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday at UN headquarters with eleven heads of state and government, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. One of the main topics of discussion with the Ukrainian side will be oil — Trump has previously called on Kyiv to stop striking Russian oil refineries, claiming that these attacks, rather than the war he launched against Iran, are behind the rise in global fuel prices.

Expensive gasoline and diesel at American pumps are hurting the chances of Trump's Republican Party ahead of November's congressional elections. Before flying to New York, Zelensky said Kyiv was ready to agree to a so-called energy truce: Ukraine would stop drone strikes on Russian refineries if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. On Saturday, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that the truce was already in effect — though in reality, it was not.

Is There Logic Behind Trump's Claims?

Jiří Havel, executive director of the Czech Association of Independent Energy Suppliers, believes there is a rational core to Trump's claims that Ukrainian strikes are driving up fuel prices. According to him, Russia mainly exports diesel fuel, keeping gasoline for domestic use, while the main buyers of Russian oil today are China, Turkey, India and Brazil — the European Union is no longer considered a major importer.

“A shortage on the global market combined with rising demand is pushing fuel prices up everywhere. Russia's oil export revenues are falling, but global prices are rising at the same time,” Havel explained. In his view, the situation resembles what happened with natural gas: less than ten percent of Europe's total LNG imports came from the Persian Gulf, yet the gas shortage caused by the war with Iran still drove up energy prices worldwide.

On Monday, Trump again wrote on Truth Social that Russia had “lost control of its oil industry” because of the war with Ukraine, and that numerous Russian refineries had been knocked out by explosions and were, at least temporarily, out of operation.

Ukrainian Diplomat: The Finger Is Pointed at Us

Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Ohryzko, who served as foreign minister from 2007 to 2009, is not particularly optimistic about the upcoming meeting between Zelensky and Trump. In his view, Trump's main concern right now is bringing down fuel prices and securing a win in the congressional elections.

“The Republicans are in a difficult position. American society is reacting very negatively to high fuel prices. So it turns out that Trump simply doesn't want to see the real cause of what's happening. Instead of pressuring Russia and saying: stop the war, and then Ukraine won't attack your refineries, he's pressuring Ukraine and Zelensky — stop the attacks, because it's not good for me. But he doesn't blame Russia for starting the war. Instead, he points the finger at Ukraine again,” Ohryzko said.

Trump's Approval Rating at a Historic Low

According to pre-election polls, Republicans could lose their majority in both chambers of Congress in the November 4 elections. Losing control of the House and Senate would significantly limit Trump's room for maneuver during the remaining two years of his presidential term.

Earlier this year, analysts predicted Republicans would at least hold on to their majority in the upper chamber, since this year's elections are taking place mostly in states that traditionally lean conservative. But according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Tuesday, Trump's approval rating among Americans has fallen to a historic low of just 32 percent.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz