Trump Calls Ukraine’s Refinery Strikes “a Disgrace” as Energy Ceasefire Collapses

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has condemned Ukraine’s resumed drone strikes on Russian oil refineries as “a disgrace” and renewed his criticism of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following the collapse of an energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.

Ukraine restarted its attacks on Russian refineries after Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv was withdrawing from a ceasefire Trump had abruptly declared last week, a truce that neither Russia nor Ukraine said it had formally accepted.

In an interview with Newsmax aired on Thursday, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of driving up world oil prices. He said there were many other targets Ukraine could strike, but that hitting diesel refineries, whose output the United States and the world needed, was not serving the world’s interests.

Ties between Kyiv and Washington have deteriorated since last week, when Trump eased sanctions on Russia in return for Moscow releasing large volumes of diesel onto global markets. The arrangement, widely seen as an effort to bring down fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, was criticised by Zelenskyy, who warned that it would enable Russia to sustain its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year. US efforts to broker an end to the war have so far yielded no results.

Trump also restated his views on the two leaders. He said he was “not a big fan” of Zelenskyy and found him harder to deal with than Russian President Vladimir Putin, though he believed both sides wanted the war to end.

Arriving in Brussels on Friday for talks with European Union leaders, Zelenskyy declined to respond to Trump’s remarks. He expressed gratitude for the EU’s strong support, praising its leaders, and said Ukraine wanted to end the war as soon as possible but had seen no indication that Russia was ready to do so.

Relations with Washington came under further strain this week after Ukraine said its Starlink services had been restricted, disrupting drone operations and vital air defences. Speaking during a visit to London, Zelenskyy said the sudden restriction had left him feeling personally betrayed by Trump and that Ukraine had lost a partner.