The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump warned Ukraine that Washington could stop sharing intelligence if Kyiv continued long-range drone strikes against oil refineries inside Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NPR.
Zelensky said Ukrainian generals had received the warning. The White House has not publicly confirmed that Ukraine was given such an ultimatum.
Trump told reporters that the United States continued to provide intelligence to Kyiv.
Zelensky also rejected Trump’s claim that Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries were a major factor behind rising diesel prices. He argued that developments around the Strait of Hormuz and the war with Iran had a greater impact on fuel prices.
The Ukrainian president said Kyiv targets Russian energy and logistics infrastructure in an effort to reduce Moscow’s ability to continue the war. He said Ukraine would be prepared to halt those strikes if Russia also stopped attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Zelensky has also said Ukraine failed on several occasions to receive advance warnings from Western partners about Russian ballistic missile launches. The absence of individual warnings does not by itself establish that U.S. intelligence sharing has stopped, and Washington denies that it has.