Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall says the Ukraine war, not the Iran war, has caused high diesel prices

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall said Wednesday that Ukraine’s war with Russia — and not the U.S. war with Iran — was to blame for high diesel prices that have imperiled his party’s control of Congress in the midterm elections.

The answer, delivered during a debate with Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, aligned Marshall with President Donald Trump’s freshly antagonistic posture toward Ukraine, which has spent more than four years defending itself against an invasion. Trump says Ukraine’s strikes on Moscow’s refineries are responsible for high fuel costs, and said he wants to alleviate the problem by importing Russian diesel.

Marshall balked at that Wednesday, saying “it doesn’t sound like a great idea.” But he said ”if this brings Russia to the bargaining table, and it ends the war, then I am all for it right now.”

Hamilton sharply criticized Marshall’s stance, saying “nobody believes” Ukraine is to blame.

“What you said just now is you’re going to sell out our friends in Ukraine,” Hamilton said. “That’s not OK.”

It was the second and final debate in the Kansas Senate race before the Nov. 3 election. Marshall is seeking a second term, and the race is considered close even though a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932. Hamilton is the founder and senior pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist church.

The cost of diesel is a particularly potent issue in Kansas because the fuel powers its agricultural economy. Hamilton has repeatedly talked on the campaign trail about high diesel prices as a consequence of an “unnecessary” war with Iran waged by Trump. Diesel averaged $6.32 a gallon this week, up from $3.62 a gallon a year ago, according to AAA.

Hamilton has called for suspending federal fuel taxes as a temporary solution while the war in Iran continues. He said he would work to force Trump to end the Iran war. Marshall said he wants the war to end as soon as possible, without committing to trying to force it.

Marshall also tried to tie Hamilton to liberal Democrats’ Green New Deal proposals for shifting the U.S. economy fully to renewable energy to combat climate change, suggesting those ideas have prevented the U.S. from building new diesel refineries.

Hamilton said he supports parts of the Green New Deal but not the entire package.