{"id":655633,"date":"2026-10-15T15:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655633\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T15:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:58:17","slug":"zelenskiy-defies-trump-as-ukraine-resumes-strikes-on-russian-refineries-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655633\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskiy defies Trump as Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian refineries \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volodymyr Zelenskiy <\/a>has said Ukraine<\/a> will restart strikes on Russia<\/a>\u2019s oil refineries as he expressed anger over a \u201cdangerous\u201d withdrawal of US intelligence and simultaneous weakening of Starlink satellite internet service at a time of intense Russian attacks. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe block [on attacking refineries] is out. We\u2019re done,\u201d Zelenskiy said in a defiant interview with the Financial Times in London. He also lambasted Washington\u2019s eagerness to strike business deals with Moscow and US president Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s apparent admiration for Russia\u2019s president Vladimir Putin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Asked to explain the two leaders\u2019 relationship, Zelenskiy said Trump had an instinctive affinity for autocrats and the super-wealthy. \u201cHe [Trump] speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such people and he respects such people. Because for him people who can be leaders 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, it means they can be very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington has piled pressure on Kyiv to stop hitting Russia\u2019s refineries, claiming that a moratorium, alongside a US deal with Moscow to buy hundreds of thousands of tonnes of Russian diesel, is essential to bring down US fuel prices.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy said he had paused energy strikes for three days to comply with US wishes, while Moscow continued to pound Ukrainian energy infrastructure and kill civilians \u2013 more than 100 in the last week.<\/p>\n

Following Zelenskyy\u2019s comments, Pavel Malkov, the governor of Russia\u2019s Ryazan province, said on Thursday that Ukrainian drone strikes had caused a fire at a refinery owned by state oil company Rosneft, adding that the damage was being assessed. <\/p>\n

A Ukrainian official said on Thursday that Kyiv hit a refinery in Russia\u2019s Ryazan province overnight in retaliation for Moscow\u2019s energy strikes. Rosneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz said Russia had struck one of its gas production facilities east of Kyiv overnight, halting operations. <\/p>\n

Despite Ukraine\u2019s pause, Zelenskiy said his forces had been left without US early-warning alerts for incoming ballistic missiles, while Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink satellite communications service had been slowed down across the country, hampering frontline operations and medium-range strikes against Russian military sites.<\/p>\n

\"VolodymyrVolodymyr Zelenskiy with British prime minister Andy Burnham outside 10 Downing Street on Wednesday. Photograph: Henry Nicholls\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian military officials were told by their US counterparts that \u201cif you will not stop [the energy strikes], we will block intelligence\u201d, although it was subsequently presented to Kyiv as a technical glitch. He also dismissed the idea that failures of the Starlink satellite system might have been caused by a fault. \u201cIt was not a technical problem, it was the will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump earlier denied that Washington had cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Musk posted on X late on Wednesday that Starshield systems, the military-grade satellite network built on Starlink technology, were \u201cowned and controlled by the US government\u201d, adding: \u201cAny limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,\u201d referring to Trump. <\/p>\n

The breakdown in relations between Kyiv and Washington is the worst crisis between Ukraine and its most important security partner since Trump and his senior aides gave Zelenskiy a public dressing-down in the Oval Office in February last year.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy stressed that Ukraine\u2019s relationship with the US as an \u201chonest\u201d and \u201cstrategic\u201d partner was essential in the fight against Russia, comparing it to Kyiv\u2019s relationship with the UK. \u201cRussia can fight … all of us but only when we are not together.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he made clear it was not up to him to mend fences with the White House, saying: \u201cWe didn\u2019t destroy any relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n

Asked whether Ukraine would halt energy strikes even if Russia continued, as a way of repairing relations with the White House, he said he could only agree if in return he was given more US-made Patriot interceptors. That was the \u201cminimum\u201d that he asked for, he said, adding that when he asked for more air defences the US response was to weaken Starlink\u2019s service.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy said that stopping energy strikes also risked only encouraging the US and Russia to pursue more deals, potentially providing more money for Putin\u2019s war machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question will be when will the next deal be? Maybe it will be gas. Definitely it will be gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness is interesting between the United States and Russia,\u201d he added. \u201cI think that they [America] want to have energy projects and … [that] of course for them is difficult to have when there is war in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Zelenskiy suggested Trump could face a public backlash. \u201cThis politically is not simple [in the US], because everybody will want to ask how it can be when some people are surviving, fighting, dying \u2013 and you make … business with the guys with such aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian president was speaking in central London after a day of meetings with Britain\u2019s King Charles, UK prime minister Andy Burnham and defence officials. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe site of a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Kyiv on Wednesday. Photograph: Maxym Marusenko\/EPA<\/p>\n

On Thursday he will address EU leaders in Brussels to plead for more robust sanctions against Russia and a faster release of EU funds to assist Ukraine\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy said fighting without the US would be \u201cvery difficult\u201d and conceded Europe would be stronger if truly united.<\/p>\n

But a spate of elections in Europe over the next 12 months, with possible gains for pro-Russian parties, could bring \u201ca lot of challenges\u201d for Ukraine, he added. Asked about French far-right leader Marine Le Pen\u2019s vow to stop financing Ukraine, he said France had a lot to lose because experience of the Ukrainian battlefield was essential for its defence companies. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an implicit response to Trump\u2019s call at the weekend for him to resign, Zelenskiy said it was \u201crhetoric\u201d which Americans would not like, and which would only boost Putin. \u201cFor me, it doesn\u2019t matter. What matters … is that Putin feels no pressure. When he feels no pressure, he attacks, because he, you know … got a tremendous kick out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe division between Europe and the United States, or Ukraine and the United States, helps him [Putin] to unite his nation. It makes him feel success[ful]. It helps him to feel that he\u2019s not losing, that he is prevailing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy went on to say that Putin was not prevailing but that the battle for supremacy in military technology \u2013 such as drones \u2013 waxed and waned, with Ukraine in the ascendancy one month and Russia the next.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, he added, the cutting off of intelligence and interruption of Starlink by the US have been \u201cdangerous\u201d for Ukraine. \u201cWe will find a way out … but it\u2019s better not to give him [Putin] the new life or the new will to fight.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Daniel McLaughlin in Lviv: Ukrainians recoil at Trump’s pressure campaignOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine will restart strikes on Russia\u2019s oil refineries as he expressed anger over a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[969,42,43,40,38,41,39,9688,58419],"class_list":["post-655633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}