Washington DC (Rajeev Sharma): United States President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Ukraine and Russia have reached an understanding to refrain from targeting each other’s energy facilities, tying the move to mounting global fuel pressures. Writing on Truth Social, Trump declared that Kyiv had agreed to stop striking Russian energy assets and that Moscow had pledged reciprocal restraint. In the same post, he asserted that recent worldwide surges in diesel prices stem primarily from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine rather than regional hostilities involving Iran.
The announcement followed remarks Trump made during a weekend trip to Ireland, where he publicly urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt drone operations against Russian oil refineries and processing plants, arguing that such actions were driving a severe global diesel shortage. While Russian authorities welcomed the call to de-escalate strikes on fuel hubs, neither Moscow nor Kyiv issued an immediate official confirmation verifying the mutual agreement claimed by the US president.
Ukrainian officials have consistently maintained that Russian oil refineries and distribution infrastructure represent legitimate military targets, arguing that petroleum revenues directly bankroll Moscow’s armed aggression. The diplomatic claim arrives amid acute economic strain in the United States, where the average retail price of industrial diesel crossed $6 per gallon for the first time on Friday, compounded by global supply bottlenecks and escalating Middle Eastern shipping hazards.
