Zelenskyy signals new Russian refinery strikes after feeling ‘betrayed’ by Trump
'The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,' Zelenskyy said
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a latest move has signalled his willingness to resume strikes on Russia’s refineries and oil infrastructure while going against Trump’s energy truce.
Speaking in an interview with Financial Times, Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian refineries.
“The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” Zelenskyy said.
Besides announcing the resumption of strikes, the president also slammed the US’ eagerness to strike business, especially the diesel deal with Russia and growing closeness between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, as reported by the media outlet.
To lower global fuel prices driven up by the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran, Trump announced a diesel supply deal with Russia alongside a proposed energy ceasefire. Under the deal, Trump announced that Russia agreed to release 300,000 metric tonnes of diesel to the US and global energy markets followed by another round of 500,000.
In response to the energy ceasefire proposal, Zelenskyy confirmed on X that Ukraine temporarily halted attacks on Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure for two days. But he accused Moscow of violating the truce by attacking Kyiv’s infrastructure.
Despite Kyiv's temporary halt, Zelenskyy told the Financial Times that Ukraine was left without critical US early-warning alerts for incoming Russian ballistic missiles.
Recently, the ties between US and Ukraine have strained as President Trump called for the replacement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with one who can actually make a peace deal and strongly criticized Ukraine for targeting Russian energy infrastructure.
Speaking in an interview with Piers Morgan, when asked by Morgan if the Trump administration had “betrayed” him, Zelensky replied, “Yes.”
Zelenskyy remarks also come after SpaceX’s move to restrict Starlink services in Ukraine, disrupting military operations and drone missions. Ukrainian military officials were told by their US counterparts that “if you will not stop (the energy strikes), we will block intelligence.”
Later, Elon Musk said that "Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately [the president of the US] POTUS.”
