President Donald Trump made “totally false” statements when he blamed rising US diesel prices on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, Vladimir Zelensky has claimed, accusing the American leader of “deflecting the focus away from Iran.”

Zelensky’s remarks came amid a growing spat with Trump, who has repeatedly accused Kiev of exacerbating the global energy crisis with continued attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.

Russia has historically been the world’s second-largest exporter of diesel fuel, behind only the United States, accounting for roughly 10% of global exports. Disruptions to Russian supplies have tightened the global market, driving up prices even in countries that do not directly import Russian fuel, including the US.

“The volume of diesel exports is so negligible from Russia that it has zero impact on prices in the US. That is totally false information,” the Ukrainian leader claimed during an appearance on Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast on Thursday.

If Trump cares so much about US energy prices, then “why do American companies export energy?” Zelensky wondered rhetorically. “Well, because how can the president of the United States ban private sector exports?... It sells and money comes in.”

Zelensky accused Trump of unfairly “deflecting the focus away from Iran” and lamented that “everything gets shifted onto us and I’m made the target as the leader of our country.”

According to Zelensky, “the root of the problem” lies in the Strait of Hormuz, where crude exports and other maritime traffic have dwindled to a trickle following the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran in February.

Earlier this month, Zelensky similarly hit out at what he described as a “weak decision” by the Trump administration after Washington temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports to ease the global fuel crisis.

Moscow agreed to immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to American and global markets, followed by 500,000 tons in November, another million tons shortly thereafter, and potentially another 3 million tons, depending on refinery capacity.

Washington struck the deal with Moscow after Zelensky had repeatedly ignored Trump’s requests to stop strikes on Russian refineries. “We said, you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries, because that’s a world problem that’s caused,” the US president recounted earlier this month.

“And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel,” Trump lamented, accusing Zelensky of wanting to “make problems for the world.”

Trump also said he found it more difficult to deal with Zelensky than with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting that Ukraine should get a new leader who would not obstruct Washington’s mediation efforts.

Rising fuel prices have become an increasingly pressing domestic issue for Trump ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. US diesel prices surged to record highs above $6.50 per gallon in September, with prices in California exceeding $8 in some areas.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Zelensky was directly challenging Trump by refusing to accept a deal aimed at easing the global diesel shortage.

In recent months, Ukraine has ramped up long-range strikes on targets inside Russia, including civilian and energy infrastructure, amid continued setbacks at the front. Moscow has denounced the attacks as acts of terrorism and responded with strikes on Ukrainian military-related facilities.