Ukraine Warupdated 2h ago2 min read
Zelensky Warns Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner Against Siding With Moscow
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Zelensky criticizes Trump, signaling strained Kyiv-Washington ties amid pressure to halt Russian oil strikes. Zelensky says he felt betrayed as US intelligence and SpaceX access was restricted.
Zelenskyy meets US envoys
Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Sunday, saying “a lot depends on America” as he warned Washington not to side with Moscow in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. Zelensky said “it is clear that there are many things that matter to all of us and that this war must be brought to an end” after the conversation with Witkoff and Kushner.
Russia and Ukraine hit each other’s energy sites, with Moscow leaving thousands without power and Kyiv carrying out the largest drone attack on St Petersburg since the start of the 2022 war. Donald Trump and Zelensky clashed after Trump blocked new sanctions on Russia and struck a diesel deal with Moscow, a move that fueled fears in Kyiv and Europe that the White House was steering towards Moscow.
Truce abandoned, refinery hit
Ukraine abandoned a brief truce involving energy-related targets and attacked a Russian oil refinery Thursday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he felt betrayed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The drone strike started a fire at the refinery about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Moscow in Russia’s Ryazan region, according to the Russian Defense Ministry and Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov.
Zelensky told the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday that Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries would resume, and he said “We’re done,” Zelensky was quoted as saying.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Ukraine never stopped its strikes on refineries, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov labeled Ukraine’s strikes on oil facilities as a “direct and crude challenge to President Trump.”
Starlink strain and midterms
Zelensky said on Friday that Starlink operations had improved but had not yet been fully restored, and he warned, “They disrupted logistics and compromised the protection of the civilian population.”
“They disrupted logistics and compromised the protection of the civilian population.”
Zelensky said the military relied on Starlink-equipped drones that need to move at a high speed to deliver food and water to troops on the frontline, and he added, “Have we fully restored the speed we had before? No.”
France 24 reported that Zelensky called for “honesty” after Musk denied responsibility for the lapse and after Trump denied that the US intelligence-sharing policy had changed.
France 24 also said Musk had become the biggest Republican donor ahead of November’s US midterm elections, spending $245 million to back key candidates, as the US-Ukraine relationship soured ahead of the vote.