Ukraine shrugs off Trump call to ditch Zelensky for energy strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Ukraine is willing to cease its strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia reciprocates by halting its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. This stance comes in response to criticism from US President Donald Trump, who reportedly urged Zelensky to stop the strikes.

Zelensky emphasized that any de-escalation measures must be reciprocal and backed by genuine guarantees, given Russia's history of not honoring ceasefires. According to the New Voice of Ukraine, in just one week, Russia launched about 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles, and over 1,640 attack drones at Ukraine.

The tensions between Zelensky and Trump arose after the US announced a deal with Russia to import diesel fuel, a move that has sparked strong backlash in the US and a new bipartisan push in Congress to prevent the import of Russian diesel. Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been a significant target for Russian attacks since the invasion in February 2022, with millions affected by power and heating outages during winter months, and fresh power outages announced in the capital Kyiv.

Brief written by urgent.news from The New York Times, New Voice of Ukraine, Kyiv Independent, Malay Mail, Free Malaysia Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.