The US threatened to halt arms sales to Europe for use in Ukraine unless Kyiv stopped striking Russian refineries, the Financial Times reported, accelerating a stunning deterioration in ties between the allies.
US President Donald Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — whom Trump called to be ousted — told Axios “was news for me.”
US threats over arms and intelligence had “ruin[ed] the trust completely,” a Ukrainian official said.
On Friday, Washington announced it would suspend sanctions on Russian diesel, though for Moscow, “the real benefit isn’t the billions of dollars in fresh revenue,” a CNN correspondent wrote. “It is the wedge this deal… drives right through the heart of the Western alliance.”
