Zelensky is dissatisfied and resumes crackdown on Russian energy facilities
U.S. President Trump recently announced the resumption of Russian diesel imports, and independently announced a ceasefire in the Ukrainian-Russian energy sector. In addition, it was reported that Washington had interrupted intelligence sharing for two consecutive days, deepening the dissatisfaction and frustration of Ukrainian President Zelensky. He admitted that he had been "betrayed" by Trump. On the 15th, he announced that he would no longer comply with Trump's request to stop attacking Russian refineries and restarted bombing Russian energy facilities.
Zelensky went to Brussels on the 15th to prepare for talks related to the EU summit. He previously visited the UK and stated in an interview published by the Financial Times that day that the energy ceasefire was broken. He criticized the US-Russian diesel agreement as a "weak decision" and bluntly said, "We have had enough." He also revealed that Ukrainian military officials were told by the United States that "if we do not stop attacking energy sources, we will block intelligence."
In an exclusive interview with British media personality Morgan, when asked whether he had been "betrayed", Zelensky bluntly said "that's right" and criticized Trump for "not choosing to stand on the right side of history."
Just hours after Zelensky made his statement, a Ukrainian drone attacked an oil refinery in Ryazan, the capital of Ryazan state, about 300 kilometers southeast of Moscow, causing a fire. The Kremlin blasted Ukraine for undermining U.S. efforts to promote peace.
Wulian received no intelligence warning for two nights, and the United States blamed weather factors
Regarding the U.S. interruption of intelligence that allowed the Ukrainian military to defend against Russian ballistic missile attacks, CNN reported that U.S. officials insisted that intelligence sharing had not been interrupted. However, they were asked why Ukraine did not receive intelligence warnings for two consecutive nights. Officials blamed weather factors, while Ukrainian officials suspected that it was intentional. European officials said the U.S. claim that there were technical problems "cannot be true."
Ukraine also admitted that the military-grade version of the civilian "Starlink" communication system "Starshield" used by the Ukrainian army was suddenly restricted, which caught them off guard. Both systems are provided by SpaceX, a company owned by billionaire Musk. Zelensky also called out to Musk, asking him to restart the service.
In this regard, Musk issued a document on the 15th stating that the ownership of the Star Shield system is controlled by the US government, and any restrictions on its use depend on the decision of the US military and the president. Starlink in the commercial field is controlled by SpaceX, which seems to imply that this is Trump’s decision. Musk also echoed Trump's recent remarks about replacing the president of Ukraine, "The massacre continues. It's time for Zelensky to resign."
The United States once again raised its willingness to unfreeze some Russian production-replacement negotiations, but Europe rejected it
On the other hand, the Financial Times also reported that when U.S. Special Envoy Wykov and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner met with the Ukrainian delegation and representatives of European allies in Miami on the 9th, they once again proposed the idea of unfreezing some Russian sovereign assets in exchange for Moscow’s willingness to negotiate as part of the conditions for a comprehensive peace agreement. The case was rejected by the European delegation at the time.
However, the aftermath of the US proposal is still lingering. German Chancellor Merz publicly expressed his opposition on the 15th, saying, "These assets are frozen in Europe, and they should continue to be frozen in Europe. It is up to us to decide." After Russia launched its aggression against Ukraine in 2022, Western allies froze approximately 260 billion euros in Russian assets. The Group of Seven Major Industrial Countries (G7) has previously used the interest income generated from these frozen assets to provide 4.5 billion euros in loans to Ukraine.
