New details have emerged about the phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump. According to a source familiar with the content of the conversation, a significant part of the call was taken up by one specific request from the American leader — to stop the attacks on Russian oil refineries. In the assessment of the outlet's source, it was precisely this topic that set the tone and length of the conversation.

The central topic of the call: diesel and refineries

As the source explained, Trump repeatedly asked Zelensky to refrain from striking Russian refineries, arguing that such attacks push up global diesel fuel prices. "The word 'diesel' was mentioned many times during the conversation," the source emphasized. Thus, the issue of the fuel market and its impact on global prices became, in effect, the main subject of discussion between the two presidents.

Context: sanctions, arms, and the upcoming UN meeting

According to Axios, a personal meeting between Zelensky and Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly is expected to take place on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. The outlet notes that this contact will come a few days after Trump signed a sanctions law against Russia and approved the largest arms agreement between the US and Ukraine since taking office — both steps that, according to Kyiv, had been sought for months. This creates a contradictory picture: on the one hand, Washington is demonstrating support in the areas of sanctions and weapons supplies, while on the other — it is publicly pressuring Kyiv on the issue of strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure.

Washington's repeated message

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Trump has made such a request to Zelensky. Previously, the US president had already said that he had asked the Ukrainian leader to stop strikes on Russian refineries, citing rising fuel prices. Even earlier, he stated that Ukraine should stop striking Russian infrastructure, because, in his words, this allegedly leads to a global diesel shortage, and he called on Zelensky to "change tactics." Thus, Washington's position on this issue is consistent and repeatedly reiterated.

The Kremlin's position and the question of negotiations

Against the backdrop of these statements, the Kremlin is preparing for another meeting with representatives of Donald Trump's team. According to Russian diplomats, the key goal of the talks is to eliminate "irritants" in the bilateral relations between the US and Russia. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin continues to accuse Ukraine of an alleged unwillingness to negotiate and of blocking processes aimed at achieving peace. Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, for his part, stated that a summit in the "Putin — Trump — Zelensky" format is possible only at the final stage of the negotiations, which effectively pushes back any direct trilateral contacts.

Contradictory data

The provided materials contain discrepancies that are important to note. First, the claim that Trump "signed a sanctions law" and "approved the largest arms agreement" comes from the basic report (citing Axios) and is not directly confirmed by the fact-checking source list, which focuses on the phone call and on personal meetings between the leaders (including in the White House). Second, the parties interpret the essence of the contacts differently: the Ukrainian and American sides present these steps as the result of Kyiv's pressure, which secured sanctions and weapons supplies, while the Kremlin (statements by Putin and Peskov) positions Ukraine as the side blocking the peace process and limits the summit to the "end of negotiations." These differences in versions and the degree of confirmation of individual details require careful interpretation.