Zelensky Rejects US Plea to Spare Russian Refineries as Diesel Stays at $6.32
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Zelensky Rejects US Plea to Spare Russian Refineries as Diesel Stays at $6.32
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Summary
Zelensky said Thursday he would not honor a U.S. request to stop attacks on Russian refineries, deepening a rift with Trump after Washington lifted sanctions on Russian diesel.
Trump made the sanctions move to curb fuel prices before the midterms, but Russia offered no known concession and the average U.S. diesel price still edged up to $6.32 a gallon from $6.29 a week earlier.
Putin has also refused Trump's demand for a cease-fire, leaving the war farther from resolution even as Kyiv resumes refinery strikes that Russia says already hit a site south of Moscow.
The clash adds to pressure on the White House by underscoring Trump's Russia-friendly posture and his failure, two years after campaign promises, to quickly end the war or lower energy costs.
Are Ukraine’s refinery attacks causing lasting damage to Russia’s fuel system, or are weak sanctions enforcement and higher prices blunting their impact?
If Ukraine resumes refinery strikes, will Russia’s war economy crack first or will Ukraine’s air-defense shortage become the bigger threat?
Did pressure over intelligence and Starlink push Kyiv into a losing trade-off between hitting Russian oil revenue and protecting Ukrainian cities?