KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NPR on Tuesday that the Trump administration warned it could cut off intelligence-sharing unless Ukrainian forces stop long-range drone strikes on oil refineries inside Russia.
Zelenskyy disputed President Donald Trump’s claim that Ukraine was to blame for higher diesel prices. He pointed instead to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war.
Easing sanctions on Russian diesel will not lower prices in the United States, Zelenskyy said, because the volume is not enough. What it will do, he said, is give the Kremlin more money for its war.
Washington moved on Friday to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports. Zelenskyy called the move a weak decision by strong partners in a statement at the time, and Trump replied that it was time for Ukraine to get a new president who could reach a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Sunday, Trump announced on social media that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt attacks on each other’s energy sites. Kyiv was caught by surprise, and Zelenskyy said he learned of the claim the same way the public did, from Trump’s post.
“We are helping them and we are sharing intel, we want the war to end.”
Ukraine is striking Russian energy and logistics sites to weaken the Kremlin’s ability to wage war, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv will not stop, he said, unless Russia stops attacking Ukrainian energy sites.
The White House did not comment to NPR on whether the administration had threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing. It pointed instead to Trump’s remarks to reporters on Tuesday, in which he said the United States is helping Ukraine, sharing intelligence and working with both sides to end the war.
Later, Zelenskyy wrote on social media that a Russian ballistic missile had hit Kyiv, targeting a power plant, and that Ukraine again received no early warning from its partners. He said it mattered that the United States see what is happening and who is responsible for the war continuing.
High fuel prices remain a political concern in the United States ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Diesel averaged $6.27 a gallon, according to AAA figures cited by NPR, up from a little over $3.65 a year ago.
