Trump asks Zelenskyy to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries again – Axios
During a conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about their planned meeting in New York, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asked Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries, allegedly because of rising global diesel prices.
Source: Axios
Quote: "A source familiar with the call said Trump repeatedly asked Zelenskyy to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. The strikes are driving up global diesel prices."
Details: The word "diesel" was mentioned many times during the conversation.
Rustem Umierov, Head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, also told Axios that he had been working with White House envoys over the past few days to arrange a meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump which is expected to take place on 22 September.
Background:
- On 22 September, Trump will deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly and hold a series of bilateral meetings. As of 19 September, a bilateral meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy had not been confirmed.
- On 20 September, Zelenskyy spoke with Trump and the two agreed to meet in New York. Summing up the conversation, the Ukrainian president said that "there are ideas for de-escalation steps and for addressing fundamental security issues".
- This is not the first time Trump has called on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries.
- On 14 September, Trump said that he had asked Zelenskyy to stop the attacks because of rising diesel prices, a significant share of which, he claimed, comes from Russia.
- He previously said that he had urged Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian diesel fuel facilities, claiming that such strikes were causing a global shortage.
- At the beginning of July, however, Trump noted that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries were an escalation capable of bringing the war to an end.
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