Ukraine to restart strikes on Russian oil refineries, Zelensky says
The Ukrainian president says a three-day pause is over after fresh Russian attacks and US attempts to pressure Kyiv.
Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as he accused the US of withdrawing crucial support.
The Ukrainian president said he had restricted such attacks for three days at Washington's behest, while Russia had continued striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. "We're done," he told the Financial Times.
Zelensky also accused the US of withdrawing intelligence-sharing on Russian strikes and slowing down Starlink satellite services used by Ukraine's military to pressure Kyiv into ending the attacks altogether after it struck a deal to import Russian diesel.
He previously said he would agree to the so-called "energy ceasefire" announced by US President Donald Trump on Sunday if Moscow also abided by it.
But Zelensky accused Russia of ignoring the proposed deal within hours of it being announced, with strikes leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power. The Kremlin never said it agreed to the deal.
Zelensky agreed that he felt betrayed by the US when asked by Piers Morgan on Wednesday night, after Washington appeared to withdraw key elements of its support.
The Ukrainian leader told the FT that Ukrainian officials had been told by US counterparts that "if you will not stop [the strikes], we will block intelligence".
Ukraine's military relies on US early-warning alerts of incoming Russian aerial attacks to mount air defences, limiting successful strikes, while Starlink internet uplinks are used throughout its war effort.
There were suggestions that the slowdown to Starlink services was due to a technical fault - something owner Elon Musk appeared to deny was the case, suggesting it was the Trump administration.
"It was not a technical problem, it was the will," Zelensky told the FT while in London.
He said he would now only halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure - which Kyiv says are vital to cutting off revenue streams to its war machine - if the US supplied more Patriot air defence missiles.
Striking a more defiant tone than recently, the Ukrainian president told the newspaper his American counterpart had an affinity for autocratic leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin.
He said it was not up to him to mend US-Ukrainian relations given the events of the past week. "We didn't destroy any relationship."
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