Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian refineries as the rift with Trump deepens

Ukraine is to restart strikes on Russian refineries, Semafor reported, noting that Washington had pressed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to curb attacks on energy facilities and had linked them to rising fuel prices⁴. Ukraine hit a Russian refinery as Zelenskyy said Kyiv was done with President Donald Trump’s energy truce, The Standard reported⁸.

The pressure on Kyiv came from the top of the administration. RBC-Ukraine reported that Vice President JD Vance and the special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had repeatedly asked Zelenskyy to stop striking Russian oil refineries⁹. Hromadske, citing Reuters, reported that Kushner and Witkoff criticised the continued refinery attacks at a meeting earlier this month¹⁰.

The rift

Zelenskyy met European Union leaders as his rift with Trump deepened, and EU leaders were expected to ask him to moderate his rhetoric against the US president, Semafor reported, citing the Financial Times⁶. Speaking after the summit in Belgium, Zelenskyy targeted both Trump and President Vladimir Putin, Al Jazeera reported, and took a jibe at Trump for saying he is harder to deal with than Putin¹¹. Politico quoted Zelenskyy telling Trump that Ukraine will stand its ground, and arguing that it has a legitimate right to self-defence¹.

Zelenskyy earlier said the United States is not on the right side of history, saying he felt betrayed by Trump and blaming Washington and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for cutting off Kyiv’s Starlink use, Semafor reported⁵.

What to watch

Trump said on Friday that his administration did not disrupt the Musk-owned satellite system Ukraine uses in the war, telling reporters he had checked that morning and that it was not the White House, according to Axios¹². Axios reported that the restrictions imposed earlier in the week hampered the Ukrainian military’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones for a day, and had raised concerns that the administration, and possibly Musk, were retaliating for the refinery attacks and for Zelenskyy’s criticism of the diesel deal with Russia¹². The claim is the administration’s own and the reporting above records Kyiv’s contrary account^5,12.

Weapons flows are so far unaffected. The Pentagon has told NATO members that the US procurement programme sending weapons to Ukraine through the alliance is continuing uninterrupted, Semafor reported⁷. The New York Times reported that the administration provides only a fraction of the assistance Ukraine received under its predecessor, and casts Putin as a potential partner³. NPR carried an analysis of how Putin may react to the rift².