Turkey Urges Peace Deal as Ukraine's Refinery Strikes Revive Fuel Price Worries

The latest Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian refinery has landed in the middle of a wider argument over fuel prices, energy supplies and food security. Turkey's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said Saturday that the war is imposing economic and social costs the world can no longer carry, and he urged Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate a settlement, according to Türkiye Today.

The strike, which Russian officials described as a large drone attack on an industrial facility in the Kstovo district of the Nizhny Novgorod region, came as Washington has been pressing Kyiv to stop hitting Russian oil sites.

What Russia says about the strike

Regional governor Gleb Nikitin said the overnight attack caused significant damage to the facility. He said “more than 100 drones destroyed” and that preliminary information showed no casualties. He did not name the facility or say what it produces. Ukrainian media identified it as the Kstovo oil refinery, which they described as one of Russia's largest, producing fuel and lubricants.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Friday that Ukraine had resumed attacks on Russian oil facilities after a brief pause. He said three refineries and a gas-chemical complex had been struck.

Why it matters for fuel prices

U.S. President Donald Trump has pressed Ukraine for weeks to halt the refinery strikes, blaming them for rising diesel prices, Türkiye Today reported. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian oil and gas infrastructure, in response to Moscow's attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities since the February 2022 invasion.

That sets two pressures against each other. Ukraine continues to hit Russian energy sites, while the U.S. president links such strikes to costs for fuel buyers. The sources do not say how much the Kstovo damage could affect output or prices.

What Turkey's foreign minister is warning about

Fidan spoke to Anadolu Agency and Turkish public broadcaster TRT on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. He said the consequences of the war have become harder to sustain, particularly for European economies. “These wars are no longer sustainable,” he said, adding that Russia and Ukraine must reach an agreement.

He argued that European industries had long benefited from relatively inexpensive Russian energy, which supported manufacturing, exports and related financial activity. In his view, the breakdown of those ties has added to the war's financial burden. He said a lasting settlement would require better relations between Russia and Europe, not only a deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

What this means for energy, trade and food

Fidan said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has compounded the problem by further disrupting global energy supplies and international trade. He said this makes the full cost of the overlapping crises increasingly difficult to calculate. He called for the dispute between Washington and Tehran over the waterway to be resolved as soon as possible.

He also pointed to shipping in the Black Sea, where disruptions have complicated the transport of Russian and Ukrainian grain and energy to international markets. Fidan called food security an especially problematic issue that needs to be brought to a halt quickly. He said Turkey is maintaining intensive diplomatic contacts and making substantial efforts to help move grain shipments from the Black Sea to world markets.

In practical terms, the minister's argument is that the war's effects reach beyond the battlefield. They show up in energy costs, trade flows and the availability of grain, though the sources give no figures for any of these.

Diplomacy around the strike

Fidan's comments came the same day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul during Zelenskyy's working visit to Turkey. Türkiye Today reported that Ankara has kept up diplomatic engagement with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the war, and that it is trying to help facilitate negotiations.

Fidan warned that the fighting could spread further if diplomacy fails, saying several scenarios Turkey had previously feared have already materialized. He said Ankara is warning both international and regional actors about the risk and will keep using its ties with both countries to help end the war. The sources do not mention any scheduled talks.

Earlier on Around Prague: Ukrainian drones attack one of Russia's largest oil refineries in Kstovo

Around Prague, based on reporting by Türkiye Today