Trump says U.S. is maintaining intelligence support for Ukraine: “Russia also wants to end the war”

[Financial News] President Donald Trump, who has reportedly demanded unilateral concessions from Ukraine under the banner of an “energy ceasefire” in the recent war, denied media allegations that he had cut intelligence support to Ukraine. He claimed that Russia wants to end the war more than the other side does.
According to The New York Times (NYT), Trump told reporters at the White House on the 13th (local time), “We have not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.”
Russian forces attacked 19 regions of Ukraine, including by firing five ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, from the evening of the 12th through the 13th. The Ukrainian government said it had received no advance warning from Western partner countries before the strikes. Some media outlets consequently raised suspicions that the United States had stopped providing intelligence support to Ukraine.
Worried about rising diesel prices in the United States ahead of the November midterm elections, Trump began condemning Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries last month and demanding that they stop immediately. The British Financial Times (FT) reported that U.S. officials warned the Ukrainian government on the 11th that intelligence sharing and weapons supply programs would be suspended unless Ukraine halted its attacks on Russian refineries. Trump posted on Truth Social that same day, claiming Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” under which neither side would attack energy facilities such as power plants and refineries, and saying it “takes effect immediately.” Russia, however, continued its attacks even after the announcement, including an airstrike on a combined heat and power plant in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
In remarks on the 13th about Ukraine, Trump said, “We are helping them, but really, we’re helping them reach a final resolution,” adding, “We want the war to end, and we’re helping them and sharing intelligence.”
He added, “We are working with them (Ukraine), and with Russia, to end the war because we want the war to end.”
That day, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to end the war more than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does. Asked what his basis was, he replied, “Because of my experience making deals. Deals are what I’ve done my whole life. Putin probably did want to. I think both (Putin and Zelenskyy) wanted to end it.”
Trump stressed, “Honestly, both want to end [the war], but they don’t know how to get there. There’s a lot of hatred between the two of them, but both want to end it. They just don’t know how to get there. We’ll get them there.”
Meanwhile, Trump said of the lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel exports, announced on the 9th, “This isn’t for us (the United States); it’s being released onto global markets.” Asked about concerns that Russia could sell diesel to buy weapons, he replied, “It’s just a diesel transaction, and it’s not for us. Those volumes are being released around the world, not coming into our country.”

  

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