Trump tells Ukraine to stop targeting Russia’s diesel fuel

Trump urges Ukraine to avoid strikes on Russia’s diesel infrastructure

Sandego.net – President Donald Trump has called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop directing aerial attacks at Russia’s diesel fuel system, arguing that the campaign is contributing to a wider shortage with international consequences.

Speaking during an official trip to Ireland on Sunday, Trump said Ukraine could continue pursuing other military objectives but should leave diesel-related facilities out of its target list. Ukrainian long-range drone operations have repeatedly hit Russian energy sites, including major processing plants, reducing the country’s refining capability.

“Mr Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel,” Trump said.

“This isn’t done by the Middle East. This is done by what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine,” he added.

The appeal comes during a period of sharp pressure on global energy markets. Fighting involving the United States, Iran and Israel has pushed prices higher and created concern over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a major passage for global oil supplies. Oil prices climbed to $108 this week as markets weighed the possibility of extended disruptions.

US diesel prices reached record levels on Friday, moving above $6 a barrel for the first time. Russia remains the world’s second-largest diesel exporter after the United States, with its refining and export capacity carrying significance beyond the battlefield.

War reaches Ukraine’s Polish border

As debate over energy infrastructure intensified, Russia and Ukraine continued to expand their drone campaigns. Overnight into Sunday, a Russian drone strike hit a gas station in Yahodyn, a northwestern Ukrainian town close to the Polish border, Ukrainian authorities said.

Fuel sites have become frequent targets during the conflict. In Kyiv, one Ukrainian gas-station network has begun fitting mesh cages around its facilities in an effort to limit the area affected when drones or other weapons strike nearby.

Yahodyn is a strategically important crossing point between Ukraine and Poland. Military equipment and humanitarian supplies pass through several crossings along the border, making their continued operation critical for Ukraine’s links with its European partners.

The crossing at Yahodyn was temporarily closed after the attack, but service had returned to normal by 10 a.m. local time Sunday.

“Russia’s barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing point in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders. This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.

Train incident raises alarm

Carl Bildt, Sweden’s former prime minister, said he was traveling by train near the Polish frontier when a train behind his was struck by a Russian drone. Bildt had been in Kyiv for the Yalta European Strategy, an international security conference.

“This wasn’t our train, but the one just minutes after us by the Polish border crossing,” Bildt wrote on X, sharing video that appeared to show a drone hitting a nearby train while passengers evacuated.

The incident highlighted the risks faced by civilians and travelers in areas near Ukraine’s western border, despite their distance from many of the war’s most intense front lines. It also reinforced concerns among NATO members bordering Ukraine about drones approaching or crossing into their airspace.

Zelensky said that Russia had launched more than 2,000 drones against Ukraine in the previous week alone. Many were jet-powered drones, which travel faster than conventional models and are harder to intercept.

Ukraine strikes refinery in Tatarstan

Ukraine also reported a major overnight operation against Russian energy infrastructure. Its military said the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, was hit in a joint effort involving Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Directorate.

Tatarstan officials said two civilians were killed and others injured in the Ukrainian attack on Nizhnekamsk. The refinery strike formed part of Ukraine’s broader effort to reach targets well inside Russian territory, while Moscow has continued using drones against Ukrainian cities, transport routes and fuel facilities.

Air-defense concerns were also evident in Lithuania on Sunday. A suspected drone sighting prompted authorities to shut Vilnius airport and led NATO to scramble at least one fighter jet. Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center later said the object identified by the aircraft was birds, and the alert was lifted.

A similar incident in Poland the previous week was also ultimately linked to birds. Even so, repeated alerts show how quickly the war’s aerial threat can affect neighboring NATO states, particularly as drone activity expands near the alliance’s eastern frontier.

The growing range and volume of drone attacks are increasingly tying battlefield developments to broader concerns over energy supplies, civilian safety and regional security. Trump’s remarks placed Ukraine’s refinery campaign at the center of that debate, while fighting on both sides continued without sign of easing.