Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Resume Strikes on Russian Oil Refineries
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that Ukraine will again hit Russian oil refineries. A three-day pause, offered as a goodwill gesture to the US, did not stop Russian attacks.
Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the British newspaper the Financial Times. According to him, the pause in such attacks, which Kyiv observed out of consideration for the United States, is over, while Russian assaults on Ukraine have continued.
"The ban has been lifted. That's it," Zelensky said in the interview.
The pause and its consequences
The president said Ukraine refrained from hitting Russian energy facilities for three days as a gesture of accommodation to the US. Russia nevertheless kept up its attacks, and more than 100 people were killed over the past week.
At the same time, Ukraine's armed forces lost access to early-warning information on ballistic missiles that had been supplied by the US, and the satellite internet service Starlink slowed down across the country. Zelensky said American partners had warned the Ukrainian military that intelligence data would be blocked if attacks on energy facilities did not stop. Kyiv was later told it had been a "technical error". Zelensky rejected that explanation: "It wasn't a technical problem, it was a lack of will."
Patriot missiles and relations with the US
Zelensky said Ukraine could stop striking energy targets even if Russian attacks went on, but only in exchange for additional Patriot air-defence interceptor missiles. He called this the "minimum" he is asking for. Instead, when Ukraine asked for stronger air defence, the US restricted Starlink.
The president suggested that Ukraine's refusal to carry out the strikes would only encourage the US and Russia to reach new agreements. "The question is, when will the next deal be made? Perhaps it will be about gas. Undoubtedly, it will be about gas," he said.
Commenting on US President Donald Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky noted that Trump openly speaks of sympathy for leaders who can stay in power for decades. He described Trump's call for him to step down as "rhetoric" that only benefits Putin. In his view, division between Europe and the US, or between Ukraine and the US, helps Putin rally his nation.
Zelensky stressed that the relationship with the US as a strategic partner remains extremely important and that fighting without American support would be "very hard".
