Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would stop complying with U.S. demands for a pause in strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, appearing to lose patience with U.S. President Donald Trump as relations between Kyiv and Washington appear to sour yet again.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Zelenskyy said that for three days Ukraine acted in accordance with the energy ceasefire Trump announced over the weekend and held back from attacking Russian energy infrastructure, only to keep being pounded by Moscow, which openly flouted the truce.
“The block is out. We’re done,” Zelenskyy said of the pause.
Russian and Ukrainian officials on Thursday confirmed Ukraine had struck an oil refinery about 180 miles southeast of Moscow, according to The Associated Press.
Zelenskyy complained that during this pause, Ukraine had not received advance warnings of incoming Russian missiles, which normally come from the U.S., and that limits were placed on its use of Elon Musk’s Starlink, disrupting Kyiv’s ability to handle frontline operations and conduct strikes on Russian military sites.
“It was not the technical problem. It was the will,” he said.
Zelenskyy said U.S. military officials had previously warned the Ukrainians that the U.S. would stop sharing intelligence with them if they continued to strike Russian energy targets.
Trump has previously denied withholding intelligence from Kyiv.
“We are helping them, and we are sharing intel,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “We want the war to end, so we’re working with them and Russia on getting the war to end.”
The U.S. has also denied making such threats.
Meanwhile, Musk, whose SpaceX operates the Starlink satellites used by the “Starshield” defense system, denied responsibility for the service slowdown, pointing the finger at Trump.
“Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” he said.
Asked to comment on the nature of the relationship between Trump and Putin, Zelenskyy said it’s no secret that Trump admires dictators.
Trump “speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people. Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong,” Zelenskyy told the FT.
Zelenskyy noted that even if Kyiv held back from striking Russian refineries to build goodwill with the Americans, it would likely just encourage the U.S. and Russia to pursue more deals after Trump had already struck an agreement with the Kremlin on diesel.
“Maybe the next will be gas,” he said, referring to a possible future U.S.-Russia agreement. “Definitely it will be gas.”
But the wartime president warned that any business deals between Washington and the Kremlin amid the Ukraine conflict would be widely condemned within the U.S. and prompt questions about how Washington could be willing to cut deals with a brutal dictator.