Zelensky snubs Trump and announces new attacks on Russian refineries

After accusing a lack of US support in the Ukraine war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced new attacks on Russian oil refineries, thereby snubbing Washington.

Zelenskyj told the Financial Times on Thursday that the cessation of bilateral attacks on energy infrastructure announced by US President Donald Trump had been "lifted" for him. Kiev officially withdrew from the “energy ceasefire” between Kiev and Moscow that Trump unilaterally announced on Sunday, about which Zelenskyj said he had not been informed in advance.

Trump had previously allowed Russian diesel imports to the USA despite applicable sanctions. The US President is under pressure because of the rise in fuel prices as a result of the Iran war shortly before the US congressional elections.

Ukraine has suspended its attacks on targets in the Russian energy infrastructure in the past few days, despite Russia's statements to the contrary, Zelensky told the newspaper. However, Russia continued to attack Ukrainian facilities. In addition, the Starshield network, which is based on the Starlink satellite network, was throttled on Wednesday, Zelensky confirmed. “It wasn’t a technical problem, it was intentional,” he added.

In addition, Ukraine's access to important military resources and intelligence information from the United States has been restricted, Zelensky complained in the interview. This is “dangerous” for Ukraine, which relies on early warnings to protect itself from Russian air strikes.

On Wednesday, Zelensky asked Musk to restore Starlink in Ukraine - shortly afterwards, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported an improvement in the connections. Because of the alleged lack of warnings about Russian air strikes, a high-ranking representative of the Ukrainian government accused the USA of supporting Russia in the war against his country.

In this context, Musk had pointed out that Starlink serves civil and defensive purposes, Starshield serves military communications and is controlled by the US government. On Thursday, Musk wrote on his online service X: “It’s time for Zelensky to go.” Trump also recently called for Zelensky's replacement after the Ukrainian president criticized Trump's diesel deal with Russia.

According to Russian information, the Ukrainian army attacked an oil refinery in Ryazan, about 180 kilometers southeast of Moscow, on Thursday. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said a fire broke out after drone parts fell onto the facility. With such attacks, Zelensky is undermining US peace efforts, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

At the EU summit in Brussels, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) called for additional funds to support Ukraine. On the sidelines of the summit, he advocated “that we do everything we can to help Ukraine over the winter and also next year,” said the Chancellor in Brussels. Support for Ukraine will also be on the agenda of the EU summit on Friday, where Zelensky is expected.