Trump Calls on Zelenskyy to Halt Strikes on Russian Diesel Sites, Citing Fuel Shortages

President Donald Trump has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop striking Russian diesel infrastructure, arguing the campaign is worsening fuel shortages, according to an Associated Press report carried by Seeking Alpha Market News on Sunday, September 13, 2026. The comment marks a notable turn from Trump's own description of the same strike campaign about two months earlier, in July, as an escalation that could hasten an end to the war.

What Trump Said

The quote as reported by Seeking Alpha is truncated: Trump is quoted saying, "Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out" - with the sentence cutting off before the direct object is specified, and no exact setting, time, or full remarks included in the available reporting. The Associated Press report, relayed by Seeking Alpha, frames the ask around fuel shortages, tying Trump's message directly to concerns about diesel supply rather than the broader war effort.

There is no indication in the available reporting that the White House or National Security Council has issued formal guidance to Kyiv following the remark, and no confirmation of whether Zelenskyy's office or the Ukrainian General Staff has responded publicly.

A Shift From Earlier Praise

The request to halt strikes contrasts with Trump's own characterization of the same campaign roughly two months earlier. Speaking alongside Zelenskyy on the sidelines of a NATO summit on July 8, 2026 — a joint press conference LIGA.net placed in Ankara, while UNN, citing Reuters, described it as a conversation with journalists on the summit's sidelines — Trump said of Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries: "This is an escalation that could lead to the end (of the war. – Ed.)." Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at the same appearance, offered a similar framing, saying: "We hope this will create space for negotiations to end the war. It is an escalation, but at the same time, such an escalation could help bring it to a close."

Taken together, the two sets of remarks show the U.S. position moving from encouragement of the strikes as a potential pressure tactic on Moscow to a public request that Kyiv stand down on this specific target set, at least as far as diesel facilities are concerned. The supplied reporting does not explain what changed in the interim beyond Trump's stated concern over fuel shortages, so readers should treat the shift as an observed change in tone rather than a fully explained policy reversal.

The Strike Campaign's Scale and Effects

The scale of the campaign Trump is now asking Ukraine to curb has been substantial. A Financial Times analysis cited by LIGA.net found Ukraine has attacked Russian oil refineries at least 194 times since the start of 2026, eleven times more often than over the same period the prior year. The intensified strikes followed a period in which, according to an AP analysis carried by Newsday, the United States eased sanctions on Russian oil during the Iran war, prompting Kyiv to ramp up attacks on oil infrastructure specifically to deny the Kremlin export revenue and impose shortages on Russian civilians.

Those shortages have shown up in visible ways inside Russia. Newsday's AP-sourced reporting said the strikes caused a summer fuel crisis, and LIGA.net reported that on June 28 authorities in Russia's Irkutsk region ordered police and the National Guard to patrol gas stations because of fuel shortages. By July 1, Russia had begun importing gasoline by sea from India, according to the same LIGA.net report.

The campaign has not been without cost on both sides. Newsday's AP-sourced account noted that a strike Ukraine said hit an oil refinery killed 13 people, according to local officials, on the Monday referenced in that report. Russia has also struck Ukraine's own energy grid: in separate reporting, Scripps News said the Ukrainian government reported an overnight assault involving more than 300 attack drones and 37 missiles, many of them ballistic, focused heavily on energy infrastructure, with warnings of resulting blackouts. The available reporting does not date that assault relative to the 2026 refinery strikes or establish it as a direct response to them.

Independent analysts cited in the Newsday report offered a mixed assessment of the strikes' military logic. Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the London-based RUSI think tank, said Ukraine's attacks are aimed at undermining any Russian assumption that it can simply absorb the pressure and "let this roll," but he also noted the approach is expensive and inefficient, since only 5% to 9% of what Ukraine fires gets past Russian air defenses.

What Remains Unconfirmed

Several elements of this story are not yet resolved in the available reporting. There is no confirmation of a formal Kyiv response to Trump's request, no indication of whether refinery strikes have actually paused since the comments were reported, and no data in the available sources on current Russian refining capacity taken offline or its share of global distillate exports. Likewise, there is no reported market reaction in diesel or gasoil futures, and no reporting in the available sources linking this request to any change in U.S. sanctions or tariff policy on buyers of Russian energy. Readers should treat any assumption connecting Trump's comments to a broader softening on Russian energy sanctions as speculative until confirmed by further reporting.

Bottom Line

Trump's public appeal for Zelenskyy to stop hitting Russian diesel infrastructure, as reported by the Associated Press via Seeking Alpha, represents a shift in tone from his July 8, 2026 remarks calling the same campaign a potentially war-ending escalation. The underlying strike campaign has been large by any measure, with at least 194 refinery attacks tallied by a Financial Times analysis cited by LIGA.net since the start of 2026 and documented fuel shortages inside Russia. What is not yet known is whether Kyiv will comply, whether the strikes have actually stopped, and what this means for the broader sanctions and tariff track against Russian energy exports — questions that will require further confirmed reporting to answer.