by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
DUBLIN/KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, as Russian strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border disrupted a train carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior European officials.
“Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters during a visit to Ireland. “Let him go after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel.”
Trump argued that the shortage was linked to the Russia-Ukraine war rather than the conflict in the Middle East, where fighting involving the United States and Iran has also disrupted energy markets and pushed up oil and fuel prices.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian refineries and other energy facilities in recent months, saying they help finance and sustain Moscow’s war effort. Russia, meanwhile, has intensified missile and drone attacks against Ukraine.
Zelensky said Sunday that Russia had launched about 2,100 drones, nearly 1,700 guided aerial bombs and 78 missiles of various types against Ukraine during the past week.
TRAIN ROUTE ATTACKED
The latest Russian strikes reached areas close to NATO military alliance member Poland, with railway infrastructure on the strategically important Kyiv-Warsaw route coming under attack.
Johnson and the other European representatives were evacuated after their train was halted during the Russian drone attack. British media reported that another train traveling close behind was struck, leaving several people injured.
The railway has become an important route for Western leaders and diplomats traveling to Kyiv because Ukraine’s airspace remains closed to regular passenger flights.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Moscow of escalating the conflict, warning that Russian military activity was moving increasingly close to Poland. “Escalation on the Russian side has now become a reality, and examples of it are coming closer and closer to our border,” he said.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said one Russian drone struck a target in western Ukraine about one kilometer (0.6 miles) from Poland and another struck about five kilometers (3 miles) from the border. A separate drone attack reportedly hit a fuel station about two kilometers (1.2 miles) from Poland, setting two trucks ablaze.
PEACE TALKS POSSIBLE
The escalating attacks came as Washington sought to revive negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that Moscow did not rule out renewed talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States in October.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow and Kyiv earlier this month in efforts to revive negotiations. Zelensky later said they had presented several “very solid and valuable ideas.”
Previous U.S.-mediated negotiations failed to produce a breakthrough after direct Russian-Ukrainian talks stalled.
Zelensky has also said he would be willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami in December. “We have to come, we have to meet, to speak and make decisions,” the Ukrainian leader told reporters.
The Kremlin rejected the proposal for a meeting in Miami, maintaining that a Putin-Zelensky encounter should take place in Moscow and saying it remained unclear whether Putin would attend the G20 summit.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
