Trump Calls Ukraine's Refinery Strikes a 'Disgrace.' A Just Peace Starts With the Truth.

President Trump says Ukraine's renewed drone strikes on Russian oil refineries are "a disgrace." In a Newsmax interview that aired Thursday, he also said he finds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "more difficult to deal with than Putin."

"All he's doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that's a disgrace," Trump said, Reuters reported. "There are a lot of targets you can hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he's not doing a good service for the world."

"I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy," he added. "I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."

How we got here

Last week Trump announced what he called an energy ceasefire, a halt to strikes on energy sites. Neither Russia nor Ukraine said they had agreed to it, The Guardian reported. At the same time, Trump eased sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel onto world markets. Zelenskyy condemned that deal, saying it would let Russia press on with its invasion.

As Dock Line reported, Russia kept bombing. According to Reuters, Russia rained down missile and drone strikes on energy facilities such as power stations, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. Zelenskyy told the Financial Times Ukraine's patience had run out, and Kyiv announced it was abandoning the ceasefire. Ukraine then hit a Rosneft refinery southeast of Moscow that helps supply the Russian capital.

On Thursday, as he met French President Emmanuel Macron in Brussels, Zelenskyy said the Kremlin had "launched yet another vile drone strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure" in the city of Lutsk, causing blackouts, according to The Guardian. The Kremlin, for its part, accused Ukraine of derailing U.S. peace efforts.

Relations were strained further this week when Ukraine said its Starlink service had been restricted, hobbling drone missions and air defenses, The Guardian reported. Zelenskyy said he felt personally betrayed by Trump. British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Thursday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had assured him the system had been restored.

European leaders rallied to Kyiv. Macron said it was "crucial" that Ukraine receive "all the means necessary to protect itself." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted, "YOU ARE NOT ALONE." Zelenskyy is set to join an EU summit on Friday.

The president has a point about prices

Trump is not wrong that oil prices matter. American families are paying more for fuel, and diesel moves the trucks, tractors and fishing boats that feed the country. A president who wants energy prices down is doing part of his job. It is also fair to say Zelenskyy is a hard man to negotiate with. He is leading a country that has been invaded and is fighting for its survival. Leaders in that position are rarely easy.

The Guardian noted that many observers saw the diesel deal as an effort to bring down fuel prices before the midterm elections. Whether or not that is true, Americans should be honest about the trade being made.

But a disgrace?

There is a moral difference between the two sides in this war, and it should not get lost in a cable interview. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has spent this month striking Ukrainian power stations, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. Ukraine struck back at refineries that fuel the Russian war machine.

Scripture is not shy about this kind of clarity. "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). "A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight" (Proverbs 11:1). Calling the defender's counterpunch a disgrace while saying little about the aggressor's bombs is a false balance. It may be meant as pressure on Kyiv to come to the table. Even so, words from an American president carry weight in Moscow too, and Vladimir Putin hears "more difficult to deal with than" Zelenskyy as an opening.

Conservatives can want this war to end. Most do. We can also want lower prices and a smaller American bill for a war overseas. None of that requires pretending the two sides are the same. A just peace has to start with the truth about who started the war and who is bombing whom.

Pray for the people of Ukraine living through blackouts, for the soldiers on both sides, and for the leaders, including our own, who will decide how it ends. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Peacemaking that is worth the name tells the truth.

Hero photo: Official White House Photo by Juliana Luz, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.