Fuel prices in US have soared because of Strait of Hormuz, not because of Republicans’ actions, - Speaker Johnson

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, attributed the high prices of fuel to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and stated that the Republicans had nothing to do with it.

He said this in an interview with the television channel CBS News, according to Censor.NET.

What Johnson said

According to the leading Republican in the House of Representatives, everyone is disappointed with fuel prices, but this is not down to politics. With this statement, the Speaker of the House of Representatives effectively refuted Trump’s accusations against Ukraine that the surge in prices had been triggered by strikes on Russian oil refineries.

"We’re all disappointed with fuel prices, obviously, but this isn’t down to politics. It’s not down to the Republicans being in power. It’s difficult to explain this to voters who know that the Republicans control the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House, but if I give them a few clear facts, they’ll understand it easily. It’s down to the Strait of Hormuz. The issue there hasn’t been resolved yet," said Johnson.

The US–Russia diesel agreement

On 9 October, US President Donald Trump stated that he had spoken with the Russian dictator Putin, with whom he had agreed on the supply of diesel fuel from Russia to markets in the US and around the world.
According to him, Russia will "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and global markets, a further 500,000 tonnes during November, and another million tonnes "immediately afterwards".
The US Department of the Treasury announced that, on Trump’s instructions, the Office of Foreign Assets Control is immediately issuing a temporary general licence to permit the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the global market.
In response, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described Russia’s authorisation to sell petroleum products as an "investment in war" and called on the US to hold firm talks with Moscow and impose sanctions under the Lindsey Graham Act.
Axios reported that during talks in Miami, US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner allegedly warned the Ukrainian side that access to US intelligence might be cut off if Ukraine continued to carry out strikes on Russian oil refineries.
On 11 October, President Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would be prepared to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Russia stopped striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
On the same day, US President Donald Trump announced the start of an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.
In a comment to Axios, Zelenskyy said that US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the start of an "energy truce" came as a surprise to the Ukrainian side.
The President later stated that Ukraine was prepared to refrain from striking at Russia’s energy sector, provided that Russia took similar steps.