Why Trump Told Ukraine to Stop Hitting Russian Oil — And What It Has to Do With $6 Gas

Gas prices in the United States have crossed $6 a gallon for the first time ever, and President Donald Trump is pointing fingers at Ukraine. On Sunday, Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacking oil refineries inside Russia, saying those strikes were hurting people at the pump. But many people are asking a bigger question: how did America end up here in the first place?

The answer goes back to a war the U.S. started in the Middle East. On February 28, the Trump administration launched a major military operation against Iran called Operation Epic Fury. The goal was to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons and to damage its military. But the fighting caused massive disruptions to the world's oil supply, and Americans are now feeling the pain at gas stations everywhere.

Before the war with Iran, the average price of diesel fuel in the U.S. was $3.72 a gallon. By Sunday, the national average had jumped to around $6.20 a gallon, according to AAA. That is a stunning increase in just a few months, and it is putting real financial pressure on millions of American families and businesses.

The Middle East supplies a huge amount of the world's oil. An international energy organization estimated that more than 10 million barrels of oil per day were not being produced from the Gulf region in August because of the fighting. Oil exports from the region were running at about half of what they were before the war started. That shortage sent prices spiking all around the world.

Two major water routes used to ship oil have also become dangerous. The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the ocean, is still a topic of tense negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Meanwhile, Houthi rebels from Yemen attacked Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and seized a key port on the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia then shut down a major pipeline after it was hit by drones from Iraq, making it even harder for oil to reach global markets.

Polls show that Americans are frustrated. A Pew Research survey from July found that 60 percent of Americans thought Trump's economic policies had made things worse, up from 52 percent in January. The number of people who were very worried about gas prices jumped from 34 percent to 56 percent in the same period. Even many Republican voters shared those concerns.

Instead of addressing the Middle East conflict directly, Trump turned to Ukraine. He warned President Zelensky to stop targeting oil refineries and fuel storage sites inside Russia. Trump argued that those strikes were driving up diesel prices and hurting the world. But from Zelensky's point of view, the request was almost impossible to accept.

Ukraine is heading into its fifth winter of full-scale war with Russia. Russia's plan has been brutal and clear: destroy Ukraine's power grid and heating systems to freeze the country into giving up. On September 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare mass strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities. Russia has ballistic missiles and powerful drones to carry out those attacks, and Ukraine's defenses struggle to stop them.

Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil facilities are one of the few ways Kyiv can fight back and hurt Russia's economy. Russia needs oil money to pay for its war. By damaging refineries and fuel export terminals, Ukraine puts pressure on Moscow and makes the war more expensive for Russia. For Ukraine, giving that up would mean losing one of its most important tools.

This situation puts Trump in a difficult spot of his own making. Just one year ago, he called on NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil, saying it weakened the West's power over Putin. Now, with gas prices soaring because of his own Middle East war, he is asking Ukraine to go easier on Russia's oil industry. Critics say Trump is asking Zelensky to give up a key advantage — the same kind of leverage Trump himself once said was so important.