Zelensky defies Trump over oil refineries attack after accusing US of ‘betraying’ Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that Kyiv is “done” supporting a ceasefire on energy targets announced by Donald Trump after it was ignored by Russia.
Trump made the surprise announcement on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on energy, after which Kyiv suspended strikes on refineries while Russia continued launching air attacks across Ukraine.
“The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” Mr Zelensky told the Financial Times, after Russian strikes on power stations knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people.
It was the latest clear indication of Kyiv’s frustration with Trump, after the Ukrainian president said he felt betrayed by a decision to restrict the Ukrainian military’s use of SpaceX’s Starlink.
By effectively walking away from Trump’s demand that Ukraine halt attacks on refineries, Mr Zelensky risks deepening the biggest rift between Kyiv and Washington since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Trump has described the ceasefire as a requirement for both Moscow and Kyiv, his public comments have focused mainly on Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries, which he said over the weekend had “damn well better stop”.
Ukrainians fear the growing rift between Washington and Kyiv could have severe consequences on the battlefield, where the Ukrainian military still depends on technology provided by the US.
Officials in Kyiv have also reported that they have not received the usual warnings from Western allies about incoming Russian missiles, which rely on US satellite detectors.
At the same time, military-grade Starlink receptors have stopped working in Ukraine when mounted on fast-moving objects, interfering with the performance of Ukrainian drones that rely on them for onboard guidance systems over Ukrainian territory.
White House sources and SpaceX owner Elon Musk have both denied being behind the restriction, but Mr Zelensky was clear that he believed it to be a policy decision, saying:”It was not a technical problem, it was the will.”
Musk earlier blamed Trump for restrictions introduced on Starlink speed for members of the Ukrainian military.
The service delivers broadband internet and has been used for government and military communications by Ukraine in the war against Russia.
The outage came amid Trump’s demands for Ukraine to completely halt long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski accused Musk of “playing politics” on Wednesday but the tech billionaire has now denied he was involved in the decision.
