Russian Refineries Under American Protection? Washington Threatens to Cut Kyiv's Weapons and Intelligence

Washington has changed its tone towards Ukraine, and not in Kyiv's favour. According to the Financial Times, citing European officials familiar with the talks, American representatives contacted the Ukrainian authorities and several European capitals over the weekend - on 10 and 11 October - with a single demand: stop hitting Russian oil facilities.

According to those sources, what's on the table is a halt to intelligence sharing and a freeze of the PURL programme, through which European NATO members buy American weapons for Ukraine. That's no symbolic channel - it's how the Ukrainian army gets US-made systems and ammunition. "They're calling Kyiv. They're calling everyone in Europe," said a European official who spoke to a representative of the US Department of Defense. The White House declined to confirm or comment, and the information has not been independently verified.

The timing isn't hard to read. The pressure came right after the 9 October deal between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on supplying Russian diesel to the world market. According to the US outlet Axios, Trump went for that deal after Volodymyr Zelensky ignored as many as six requests from Washington to stop striking Russian refineries. The White House's argument: Ukrainian strikes don't just hurt Russia, they also push up the fuel prices American consumers pay - and that's ahead of the 3 November congressional elections.

Zelensky isn't staying quiet. At the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, 12 October, he asked the question hanging over the whole story: "Why didn't America make a diesel fuel deal with Ukraine? After all, we're the ones who decide whether the refineries work."

His condition hasn't changed: Ukraine will stop long-range strikes on Russian refineries and oil exports only if Moscow stops hitting Ukrainian power plants, the energy grid and other critical infrastructure. Ukraine, he said, doesn't have large oil reserves or dozens of refineries like Russia - it depends on diesel imports. "If Russia doesn't agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, we will respond," he warned.

On the ceasefire Trump announced and Moscow never confirmed, Zelensky had one short sentence: "Putin doesn't read Trump's Truth Social. Right after his message was posted, Russia attacked the power plant in Kharkiv." Meanwhile, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have postponed their planned visit to Moscow.

The Balkans know this scene well - the big powers cutting deals over the head of the one who's burning. The question is how long Kyiv can keep saying "no" to the ally that holds both its weapons and its intelligence.