Trump says he asked Zelensky to slow strikes on Russian oil refineries; Zelensky denies any agreement
US President Donald Trump said he told President Volodymyr Zelensky to "slow down" Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and claimed Zelensky replied he would "probably" do so. Trump framed the strikes as the main cause of rising global diesel prices and warned of a potential "world problem." Zelensky publicly rejected the characterization, saying that in closed-door talks there was no pressure to halt the strikes and that any cessation would require reciprocal Russian non-strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and partner guarantees.
Key points
- Trump said he asked Zelensky to "slow down" strikes on Russian oil refineries and claimed Zelensky replied he would "probably" do so.
- Trump blamed rising diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, calling it "not so much a Middle East problem as a Russia problem."
- Trump warned strikes on Russian refineries could become a "world problem" and said Zelensky could "do other things" besides attacking them.
- Zelensky and Trump met in New York on September 22; Zelensky confirmed an energy ceasefire was one of the topics discussed.
- Zelensky said there were no attempts in closed-door talks to force Kyiv to halt refinery strikes, contradicting Trump's public account.
- Zelensky conditioned any halt on Russia ceasing strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and on partner guarantees.
- Strikes on Russian refineries continued after the September 22 meeting, including hits on facilities in Perm and Novoshakhtinsk on the night of September 25 and the Ilysky refinery in Krasnodar Krai on September 26.
Why it matters
Trump is publicly pressing Zelensky to curtail a central element of Ukraine's long-range strike campaign against Russian energy infrastructure, and is framing those strikes as the principal cause of global diesel price increases — a politically sensitive issue for his administration. Zelensky's public rejection of the agreement narrative, together with the continuing strikes on Russian refineries after the September 22 meeting, points to a widening gap between Trump's public account and the operational picture on the ground, with implications for the broader trajectory of US-Ukraine relations and any energy ceasefire negotiations.
What happened
Donald Trump told journalists, including in remarks to Fox News, that he asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to "slow down" Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and claimed Zelensky responded that he would "probably" do so. Trump linked rising diesel prices directly to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, calling the issue "not so much a Middle East problem as a Russia problem," and warned that the strikes could become a "world problem." He suggested Zelensky could "do other things" besides attacking Russian refineries and added that Russian refineries can no longer operate as before but "we will fix this situation." On September 21, Zelensky had said Ukraine was ready to halt attacks on Russian refineries only if Russia stopped striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure and only with partner guarantees of compliance. The two then met in New York on September 22, where Zelensky said an energy ceasefire was among the topics. After the meeting, Zelensky stated that, contrary to some public statements from the American side, there had been no attempt in closed-door talks to force Kyiv to stop attacks on refineries and similar facilities. Strikes on Russian oil refineries continued after the meeting: on the night of September 25, two refineries in Perm and Novoshakhtinsk were hit, and on September 26 Ukrainian forces struck the Ilysky refinery in Krasnodar Krai. The Ukrainian side had not publicly confirmed Trump's claim that Zelensky had agreed to slow the strikes.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language outlets consistently used hedging language when reporting Trump's claim that Zelensky agreed to slow the strikes, using «нібито погодився» ("supposedly agreed") and softened verbs such as «пригальмувати». They foregrounded his position that any halt is conditional on reciprocal Russian non-strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and on partner guarantees, and highlighted his statement that there were no attempts in closed-door talks to force Kyiv to stop the strikes — directly contradicting Trump's public account. Ukrainian reporting also cited Forbes Ukraine analysts contesting Trump's framing that Ukrainian strikes are the main cause of rising diesel prices, and pointed to continued strikes on Russian refineries after the September 22 meeting, including specific incidents at Perm, Novoshakhtinsk, and the Ilysky refinery.
How international sources describe it
The single English-language source in the available material, Azerbaijan's APA agency, framed the story positively as "Zelenskyy responds positively to Trump's request," presenting Trump's account with less hedging than Ukrainian outlets. International framing overall centered on Trump's attribution of global diesel price increases to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and his warning of a potential "world problem."
Where reporting differs
Trump publicly claimed he asked Zelensky to slow the strikes and that Zelensky "probably" agreed; Zelensky said there were no attempts in the closed-door New York talks to force Kyiv to halt refinery strikes — a direct contradiction of Trump's account. Forbes Ukraine's analytical division assessed that the US-Iran conflict has a significantly greater impact on global diesel, oil, and gas supplies than Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, contradicting Trump's attribution of rising diesel prices primarily to Ukrainian strikes. One source (a photo caption in article 39114) dates the Trump-Zelensky meeting at the UN summit in New York to September 22, 2026, while all other sources report the meeting as September 22 without specifying the year.
Background
On September 13, Trump first publicly linked global fuel shortages to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and called on Zelensky to stop them. On September 14, Trump claimed Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to attack each other's energy infrastructure; Zelensky clarified that Ukraine would accept such an arrangement only with partner guarantees that Russia would comply. The September 20 Trump-Zelensky phone call, during which Trump repeatedly asked Zelensky to halt refinery strikes according to Axios, came several hours after a large-scale Ukrainian attack on a Moscow oil refinery. On September 21, Zelensky set out Ukraine's conditional readiness to stop refinery strikes and Trump said the same day that Russia had lost control of its diesel industry and that the war "must be stopped." On September 23, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said achieving an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is a difficult task but Washington will try. Forbes Ukraine analysts assessed that the US-Iran conflict has a significantly larger impact on global diesel, oil, and gas supplies than Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries.