Trump Calls Ukraine Refinery Strikes a ‘Disgrace’
Trump calls Ukraine refinery strikes a “disgrace” that keeps global energy prices elevated, he told the Newsmax outlet in an interview aired Thursday, sharply criticizing Kyiv’s decision to resume attacks on Russian oil facilities.
The remarks followed a Ukrainian drone strike on a Rosneft refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, which Russian officials said sparked a fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had just declared in a Financial Times interview that Kyiv was abandoning the energy ceasefire President Trump announced, branding the brief pause “done.”
A ‘Disgrace’ Keeping Oil Prices High
Asked about the renewed strikes, Trump told interviewer Rob Finnerty that Zelensky was pushing world oil prices higher. “All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that’s a disgrace,” the president said, adding that Ukraine had “a lot of targets” it could hit, but that diesel refineries produce fuel the United States and the world need.
‘Not a Big Fan’ of Zelensky
Trump also renewed his criticism of Ukraine’s president, saying he is “not a big fan” of Zelensky and finds the Ukrainian leader “more difficult to deal with than Putin,” even as his administration pushes to broker a ceasefire deal to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
As Trump pressured Kyiv to halt the refinery strikes, Ukraine faced reduced usage of a satellite system it relies on for battlefield communications and drone operations, Reuters reported — an order that came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. Analysts cited by the Kyiv Post say the main driver of the global price surge has been the US–Israel conflict with Iran disrupting oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, rather than the refinery strikes alone.
Ties Fray as Zelensky Rallies Europe
Against the backdrop of weakening ties with Washington, Zelensky traveled to Brussels, meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte and holding a string of bilateral meetings with European leaders before joining an EU summit on Friday. European leaders broadly backed Ukraine, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling it “crucial” that Ukraine receive “all the means necessary to protect itself,” and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posting online: “YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”
Source: Reuters