US warns Ukraine: ‘We’ll cut off critical intelligence if you attack Russian oil refineries’

[Financial News]  

The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 10th (local time), citing three sources, that US administration officials are stepping up pressure on Ukraine, threatening not to provide it with critical intelligence if it attacks Russian oil refineries. The previous day, President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and secured a commitment from him that Russia would export a total of 4.8 million tonnes of diesel fuel, including at least 300,000 tonnes immediately. To resume Russian diesel exports, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) temporarily eased sanctions on sales of Russian diesel, among other measures, as the Trump administration coordinates closely ahead of a drop in diesel prices.
As President Trump strongly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for opposing the agreement and stressed that Ukraine should elect a new president who would end the war through negotiations with Russia, the United States moved to pressure Ukraine by threatening to suspend intelligence sharing.
According to sources, Ukraine’s negotiating team sat down with US negotiators in Miami, Florida, on the 9th for nearly eight hours to discuss how to persuade Russia to end the war. But the talks descended into disarray after Trump announced that he had agreed with Putin to resume diesel exports.
During the talks, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner warned that the United States could suspend intelligence sharing if Ukraine ignored its warning to stop airstrikes on Russian oil refineries.
A Ukrainian source said, “This was a firm demand from the president of the United States.”
With the help of intelligence provided by the United States, Ukraine has attacked Russia’s oil industry, a key source of funding for its war. If intelligence sharing is cut off, Ukraine may be unable to attack not only the oil industry but also key Russian military facilities.
However, a senior Ukrainian official vowed, “We will burn Russian oil refineries.” According to Russian authorities, hours after Trump’s announcement, Ukrainian forces attacked the Yug Rusi Oil Terminal in Rostov-on-Don, a major Russian transshipment and export terminal for petroleum products.
The senior Ukrainian official added that the negotiating team had skipped the meeting scheduled for the 10th and withdrawn. Despite the conflict, however, the negotiating teams on both sides had prepared a peace proposal to send to Russia before this winter.
A source said that relations between the United States and Ukraine had recently improved, but Ukraine’s opposition to the demand to halt airstrikes on oil facilities had displeased Trump.
Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes are intensifying as the United States tries to dissuade Ukraine.
Since the 7th, around 80 people have been killed in Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. In Zaporizhzhia on the 10th, a low-cost, high-impact glide-bomb attack killed at least 17 civilians, including three children.
On the afternoon of the 10th, Russia attacked the capital, Kyiv, with ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter