Kyiv, Oct 16 (Watan News) — Zelensky defies Trump: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that Ukraine is ending its short-lived pause on attacks against Russian energy facilities and will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries. “The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” Zelensky told the Financial Times in an interview published on Thursday.
FAKTA
- Zelensky told the Financial Times in an interview published on Thursday that Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, ending a brief pause that followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday.
- Ukraine had refrained from striking Russian energy sites for about two to three days after Trump’s announcement, while Russia, according to Zelensky, continued attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
- Russia’s Defence Ministry and Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said on Thursday that a Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil refinery in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, starting a fire. Russia said the fire was caused by debris from intercepted drones.
- Zelensky said Ukraine had been denied the usual Western intelligence on Russian ballistic missile strikes during the pause and that its use of Starlink communications had been restricted. He rejected the idea that the failures were technical: “It was not a technical problem, it was the will.”
- Trump called for the energy ceasefire after announcing a deal to buy more than 2.25 million barrels of diesel from Russia, saying the refinery attacks were raising global fuel prices. The Kremlin never publicly confirmed that it had agreed to the truce.
Zelensky Defies Trump in Financial Times Interview
The Financial Times interview laid bare Zelensky’s frustration with Washington. The Associated Press reported that Zelensky said he felt betrayed by Trump, and the Financial Times quoted him criticising Washington’s eagerness to strike business deals with Moscow and what he described as Trump’s apparent admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky also told the newspaper that Ukrainian military officials had been told by their US counterparts: “if you will not stop [the energy strikes], we will block intelligence” — a warning he presented as pressure to accept the ceasefire while Russian attacks continued. When asked whether Ukraine might agree to halt the energy strikes to repair relations with the White House, Zelensky said he could only do so in return for more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, which he called the “minimum” that would be acceptable.
Ryazan Refinery Struck as Attacks Resume
On Thursday, Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said the region had come under a “massive” drone attack and that a fire had broken out at an oil refinery about 300 kilometres southeast of Moscow. The refinery, operated by Rosneft, handles about five per cent of Russia’s total refining output.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had intercepted four Flamingo cruise missiles and 69 drones, and claimed the fire was caused by falling debris from an intercepted drone. Malkov said a warehouse and vehicles were damaged at another enterprise in Ryazan, and that no casualties had been reported, with the extent of the material damage still being assessed. The strike was the first on a Russian refinery since Trump declared the energy ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the exact outline of which targets were off-limits had not been specified, so “work in this direction continues.”
Why the Energy Truce Collapsed
Trump announced the surprise “energy ceasefire” on Sunday, calling for both sides to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. Ukraine went along with the demand for a few days, but Zelensky said on Wednesday that Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities had left 600,000 people without power, and argued that Moscow had never honoured the truce in the first place.
The dispute is also tied to the price of fuel. Trump has linked Ukraine’s refinery campaign to rising diesel and fuel prices, and his administration has been weighing ways to ease pressure on global energy markets. Russia, meanwhile, continued its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian power plants, according to Zelensky — a pattern that, in Kyiv’s view, made any pause on its own strikes unsustainable.
What Comes Next
Zelensky gave the interview during a visit to London, where he met British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at 10 Downing Street to discuss Ukraine’s military needs. European allies have voiced support for Kyiv as the row with Washington deepens. With Ukraine’s patience declared to be over and Russia still hitting Ukrainian infrastructure, the energy war between the two countries — and the strain on US-Ukraine relations — looks set to intensify.
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