US President Donald Trump on Sunday hit out at his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for targeting Russian oil refineries, as it is "hurting" other countries and causing shortages of crude. This marks one of the rare occasions when Trump has openly criticised Zelenskyy, while the war in Europe has entered its fifth year.
On a two-day visit to Ireland, Trump said Zelenskyy should “stop knocking out diesel fuel” in Russia, as that has led to a shortage across the world. Trump also defended his actions against Iran and said the Ukraine war is also responsible for a fuel crisis across the world.
"Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel because he's creating a shortage of diesel. “This is not done by the Middle East, this is done by what’s going on with Russia and Ukraine,” he told reporters at his golf club in Doonbeg. “There are plenty of other targets. Don't hit diesel fuel that's hurting. That is damaging the world. We don't want him hitting diesel fuel... He's hitting diesel refineries.
Oil prices have stayed inflated worldwide since the start of the war in the Middle East after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, which nearly 20 per cent of the world's crude transits through. Meanwhile, Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russian refineries and Moscow has retaliated in kind.
Despite both sides reiterating their readiness for talks, they have continued to blame each other for the situation and continue trading blows. In recent times, US envoys have gone to Moscow and Kyiv to re-start talks but no breakthrough has yet been reached.
As the conflict continues to drag on, India and China have also offered to mediate the conflict between the two sides. On Sunday, Kremlin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's Xi Jinping, during their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, have said and help in ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
Putin welcomed the offer from Modi and Xi, and briefed them on the current situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He also said the Russians have not entirely ruled out the possibility of talks and said negotiations are possible in the "foreseeable future, presumably October".
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