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President Donald Trump has labeled Ukraine’s resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries a “damage,” the latest salvo in his campaign to pressure the U.S. ally over rising gas prices that will cost Republicans next month’s midterm elections.
Kiev said on Thursday that it would no longer abide by Trump’s “energy ceasefire” by Russia refusing to stop its own attacks on Ukraine’s power grid. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily accused the United States of costing civilian lives by cutting deals with Moscow and withdrawing aid crucial to Kiev’s defense against the Kremlin’s invasion.
Ukrainian officials had raised the alarm after restrictions on the Starlink satellite service disrupted military operations, and gaps in intelligence sharing left Kiev vulnerable to Russian attacks.
With Ukraine defying his demands to stop strikes, Trump responded on Thursday.
“If you tell me that Zelenskyy is going to shoot refineries again, all he’s going to do is make the world oil price higher,” Trump told Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty. “I think that’s a shame. There are a lot of other targets; they don’t have to hit,” Trump said.
“Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with” about the war, he said, adding that “I think they actually both want to end it, but I think I find Zelenskyy harder to deal with than (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
The Kremlin agreed with Trump on Friday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was clear that “Zelenskyy does not want to take responsibility and move towards a peaceful resolution.”
As his conflict with Trump escalated, Zelenskyy was in Brussels on Friday to drum up support from European allies he called “true leaders” as they gathered for a crucial summit.
Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery on Thursday after Zelenskyy said he was “done” with the ceasefire that Trump announced to the apparent surprise of both sides in the war. Neither Moscow nor Kiev reported any new strikes on Russian refineries on Friday.
Trump has tried to blame Ukraine’s strike for destabilizing the price of diesel worldwide, despite the impact of his own war in Iran.
But this campaign of attacks deep in enemy territory gave Ukraine decisive leverage, triggering a major fuel crisis in Russia.
Kiev hoped this would give it a stronger hand at the negotiating table, but as Washington pushes for an end to the conflict, it has taken a series of steps that have caused surprise and alarm among Ukraine and its backers in Europe.
Last week, Trump announced a deal to buy diesel from Russia, an apparent attempt to relieve pressure at the pump for American consumers ahead of the midterm elections but those years of US policy reversed. Trump then called on Kiev to halt any strikes on Russian oil infrastructure and said Zelenskyy must be replaced as Ukraine’s leader.
It comes amid mounting questions about whether the US is still sharing critical military intelligence with Ukraine after several major strikes earlier this week, which Kiev said were carried out without the usual advance warning from its partners.
Ukraine also reported an extension of the Starlink satellite terminals, which are critical for its army communications, drone missions and air defense.
Kiev said Starshield, the military version of the technology used by Ukraine’s troops, had been restricted without warning.
SpaceX chief Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump ally, said such decisions would be up to the US military and ultimately Trump.
After repeated requests for comment on Musk’s statement, a senior US official told NBC News that “no such request has ever been made by the president.” Trump also denied that military intelligence was limited to Ukraine.
Kiev said Thursday that Starshield service would be restored, but the episode only added to growing suspicions in Ukraine that the United States was willing to cut it off from battlefield support to exert pressure for a peace deal.
European and Ukrainian officials told NBC News they believed the moves, which come just days after Trump eased sanctions on Russia’s diesel exports and cracked down on Zelenskyy, were most likely aimed at pressuring Kiev to make concessions at the negotiating table related to the peace talks.
