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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on September 22 that Ukraine had repeatedly targeted ships and oil supplies linked to the United States, adding another source of tension between Kyiv and the administration of President Donald Trump as Washington presses Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
“The one thing we are concerned about” is that in recent months, “American-linked ships, American oil supplies have been targeted” by Ukraine, Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.
He added that the attacks were “probably not deliberately” aimed at the U.S. but stressed that the issue “needs to be addressed.”
Rubio did not identify the ships or oil shipments. However, ABC News reported that Ukrainian attacks have struck targets around the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where the Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates oil export infrastructure with American companies among its shareholders.
The comments came after Trump had publicly urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, saying the strikes are contributing to pressure on global diesel supplies and fuel prices.
Trump first made the demand on September 13, saying, “He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel,” and arguing that Ukraine could target other military objectives.
He renewed the request during a September 20 call with Zelenskyy, according to people familiar with the conversation cited by the Financial Times. A Ukrainian official who took part in the call said Trump repeatedly raised diesel prices and urged Zelenskyy to stop the refinery attacks.
Zelenskyy has since confirmed that he rejected the request. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on September 23, he said Trump asked him to halt strikes on Russian refineries because of rising diesel prices, but that he refused, arguing that the main driver of the price increase was disruption in the Strait of Hormuz rather than Ukrainian attacks.
“If everyone wants to solve this problem this way, then they should help us to stop Putin and his blackouts in Ukraine” and “force” him to stop attacking civilian infrastructure, Zelenskyy said, according to the report.
“Our lives are more important than the price of energy,” he added, while acknowledging that diesel prices affect consumers and businesses.
Trump and Zelenskyy met in New York on September 22. Zelenskyy said afterward that they had not discussed a unilateral Ukrainian halt to refinery strikes, but that Kyiv remained willing to consider a broader ceasefire covering energy infrastructure.
The dispute reflects a growing divergence between Washington and Kyiv over attacks against Russian energy targets. Trump has increasingly focused on the economic consequences of the war, while Ukraine has continued to treat strikes on Russia’s refining sector as a means of putting pressure on Moscow.
Rubio’s remarks broaden that dispute beyond Russia’s energy infrastructure, highlighting U.S. concerns over attacks that could affect American commercial interests. He said Washington supports an energy ceasefire under which Russia and Ukraine would refrain from targeting each other’s energy infrastructure, calling it “an ideal outcome.”
The standoff shows how Ukraine is increasingly challenging the Trump administration, potentially using Washington’s growing concern over diesel prices to pressure or blackmail it into providing more military support.
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stupid ukrainians. 😂🤣😂
the inbred decision makers of the zionist deep state have started both the ukrainian and iran wars. they will likely lose both and put america in a political and economic doom loop. thanks to their infinite greed they may have destroyed themselves along with most of their european backers.