President Donald Trump has labeled Ukraine’s resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace,” the latest salvo in his campaign to pressure the U.S. ally over rising gas prices that could cost Republicans in next month’s Midterm elections.
Kyiv said Thursday that it would no longer abide by Trump’s “energy ceasefire,” citing Russia’s refusal to halt its own attacks on Ukraine’s power grid. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily accused the U.S. of costing civilian lives by striking deals with Moscow and withdrawing support that is crucial to Kyiv’s defense against the Kremlin’s invasion.
Ukrainian officials had raised alarm after restrictions on the Starlink satellite service disrupted military operations, and gaps in intelligence sharing left Kyiv vulnerable to Russian attacks.
With Ukraine defying his demands to halt strikes, Trump responded late Thursday.
“If you tell me that Zelenskyy is again shooting at refineries, all he’s doing is making the world oil price higher,” Trump told Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty. “I think that’s a disgrace. There’s plenty of other targets; they don’t have to hit,” Trump said.
“Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with” on the war, he said, adding that “I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
As his clash escalated with Trump, Zelenskyy was in Brussels on Friday to shore up support from European allies, whom he called “real leaders” as they gathered for a crucial summit.
Ukraine hit a Russian oil refinery on Thursday after Zelenskyy said he was “done” with the truce, which Trump had announced to the apparent surprise of both sides in the war. Neither Moscow or Kyiv reported any new strikes on Russian refineries on Friday.
Trump has sought to blame Ukraine’s strikes for destabilizing the price of diesel globally, despite the impact of his own war in Iran.
But this campaign of attacks deep inside enemy territory has given Ukraine crucial leverage, sparking a major fuel crisis inside Russia.
Kyiv 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 which reversed years of U.S. policy. Trump then called for Kyiv to stop all strikes on Russian oil infrastructure and said Zelenskyy had to be replaced as Ukraine’s leader.
It comes amid mounting questions about whether the U.S. is still sharing critical military intelligence with Ukraine after a pair of major strikes earlier this week that Kyiv said came without a usual advance warning from its partners.
Ukraine also reported a slowing down of the Starlink satellite terminals, which are critical for its army’s communications, drone missions and aerial defenses.
Kyiv said that Starshield, the military version of the technology that is used by Ukraine’s troops, had been limited without any warning.
SpaceX chief Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump ally, said that such decisions were up to the U.S. military and ultimately Trump.
After repeated requests for comment about Musk’s statement, a senior U.S. official told NBC News that “no such request was ever made by the president.” Trump has also denied restricting military intelligence for Ukraine.
Kyiv said Thursday the Starshield service was being restored, but the episode only added to the mounting suspicion in Ukraine that the U.S. was willing to cut it off from battlefield support in order to exert pressure for a peace deal.
European and Ukrainian officials told NBC News they believed that the moves, coming only days after Trump eased sanctions on Russia’s diesel exports and railed against Zelenskyy, were most likely aimed at pressuring Kyiv into making concessions at the negotiating table amid the stalemate in peace talks.
The Kremlin agreed with Trump on Friday, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was clear that “Zelenskyy doesn’t want to take responsibility and move toward a peaceful resolution.”
Russia has always stated it’s open to a peace settlement but only on its own hardline terms, which would see Ukraine ceding significant territory.