Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Thursday that his country would resume attacks on Russian oil refineries, openly rejecting President Donald Trump’s proposed suspension of strikes on energy facilities after accusing Moscow of continuing its bombardment of Ukrainian infrastructure and Washington of threatening vital military intelligence support.

“The block is out. We’re done,” Zelensky declared during an interview with the Financial Times while visiting London.

The announcement marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between Kyiv and Washington over Trump’s efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Zelensky maintained that Ukraine had observed the temporary suspension of attacks for three days, while Russia continued striking Ukrainian energy installations more than 100 times over the preceding week.

The Ukrainian leader argued that his country could no longer be expected to refrain from attacking Russian oil facilities while Moscow continued targeting Ukrainian power supplies.

Shortly after Zelensky announced the resumption of strikes, Pavel Malkov, governor of Russia’s Ryazan region, reported that Ukrainian drones had struck a state-owned oil facility and ignited a fire.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian refineries and other petroleum installations, arguing that the facilities generate revenue for Moscow’s military operations and that the attacks are a legitimate response to Russia’s ongoing destruction of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Trump had sought to halt such attacks as part of a broader diplomatic initiative that included an agreement announced Friday for the United States to purchase more than 2.25 million barrels of Russian diesel fuel. The administration presented the arrangement as a way to ease a global fuel shortage and encourage Moscow to return to peace negotiations.

Zelensky immediately criticized the agreement, telling Axios that it “looks like a happy birthday present” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The dispute intensified when Zelensky accused American military officials of threatening to suspend intelligence assistance unless Ukraine stopped attacking Russian energy facilities.

According to the Ukrainian president, US officials warned Kyiv, “if you will not stop [the energy strikes], we will block intelligence,” a claim that the Trump administration has disputed.

White House officials offered a different account of the proposed ceasefire, saying Putin understood that the arrangement applied specifically to oil refineries and did not prohibit Russian attacks on Ukrainian electrical infrastructure.

Administration sources suggested that Zelensky was deliberately interpreting the agreement more broadly than its actual terms, allowing him to accuse Moscow of violating the understanding and justify abandoning the restrictions imposed by Trump.

Trump has denied that Washington suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but the disagreement grew more serious Tuesday when Ukrainian forces experienced a disruption in access to Starshield, the secure military satellite communications network developed by SpaceX.

Starshield, a military-focused counterpart to the company’s Starlink system, provides communications capabilities that support Ukrainian battlefield operations, including the tracking of incoming threats and the coordination of long-range strikes against Russian targets.

The interruption reportedly interfered with Ukraine’s ability to deploy interceptor drones against incoming Russian attacks, raising concerns among Ukrainian officials about the timing and possible cause of the disruption.

The precise reason for the outage remained uncertain. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk indicated Wednesday that responsibility lay with the Pentagon and White House, although a senior American official denied Thursday that Trump had ordered any restriction on Ukrainian access. The Pentagon had not publicly addressed the allegation.

By Thursday morning, Ukrainian representatives reported that Starshield service was recovering, although questions persisted over what had caused the interruption.

“Starshield speeds have been improved, at the moment,” Denys Sienik, a senior diplomat at Ukraine’s embassy in Washington, told the New York Post. “We hope all will be resumed to the previous level.

“Speed ​​is critical for logistics, and for intercepting the jet-powered Shahed drones, especially when Russia constantly uses them to attack our cities and commit war crimes,” he added.

“Yesterday saw one of the most massive Shahed [drone] attacks, occurring precisely when our defense system’s speed was being throttled, and the circumstances behind this are deeply concerning.”

Zelensky also used his London interview to criticize Trump’s approach toward Putin, accusing the American president of showing admiration for powerful authoritarian leaders.

“He [Trump] speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people,” Zelensky told the Financial Times. “Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong.”

The Ukrainian president urged Washington to abandon efforts to expand commercial dealings with Moscow while Russian forces continued their invasion. He argued that American pressure should be directed toward compelling Putin to end the war rather than restricting Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian targets.

Nevertheless, Zelensky acknowledged that American military assistance remains essential to Ukraine’s defense, conceding that resisting Russia without US support would be “very difficult.”

The Trump administration has defended its diplomatic strategy, maintaining that economic incentives, including the Russian diesel agreement, could persuade Putin to resume serious negotiations and eventually accept a peace settlement.

Administration officials believe the fuel arrangement could also ease pressure on American consumers facing rising diesel and gasoline prices. Energy analysts, however, have warned that the conflict involving Iran has been a major factor behind the recent increase in global fuel costs.

Officials have also suggested that renewed economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow could become part of a broader postwar relationship if an agreement ending the fighting can be reached.

Skeptics of the administration’s approach argue that offering Russia economic benefits while limiting Ukrainian military operations risks strengthening Putin’s negotiating position.

“For Trump, it’s a two-fer: try to lower diesel prices to save his own skin before the midterms, and use more Ukrainian deaths to strong-arm Zelensky to accept a surrender agreement with Russia so Trump can claim to have ended the war,” a former National Security Council official told the New York Post. “Neither will work.”

Fred Fleitz, who served as chief of staff of the National Security Council during Trump’s first administration, argued that securing a lasting agreement would ultimately require convincing Putin that continued military operations could not produce victory.

“Ultimately, I believe the tipping point for a peace deal will come when Putin finally accepts that the war is unwinnable and his only chance for an honorable exit is through a deal with Trump,” Fleitz said. “This should be the central theme of any Witkoff-Kushner negotiations with Putin.”

The Kremlin, meanwhile, rejected Ukraine’s account of the ceasefire, maintaining that Kyiv had failed to observe the proposed restrictions. Putin also played down the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil installations, saying they had caused “nothing particularly significant.”

British officials have sought to prevent the dispute from causing a lasting rupture between Washington and Kyiv. UK Defense Minister Wes Streeting said London was working to bring “friends back together again” as European governments continued pressing for sustained American involvement in Ukraine’s defense.

“We need President Trump engaged on Ukraine,” Streeting said during an appearance on Fox News.

“He has been, and the diplomatic track is as important in making sure Ukraine has the weapons it needs to see off Russian aggression.”

Ukraine’s renewed refinery campaign comes amid continuing Russian missile and drone attacks that have damaged electrical infrastructure and left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian residents without power. Zelensky has also been seeking stronger European financial and military assistance as uncertainty grows over Washington’s future role in the conflict.

{Matzav.com}