US threatens to halt arms supplies to Kyiv unless Ukraine ends airstrikes on Russian oil refineries
The Trump administration is threatening to end its arms supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv ends its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, The Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing European officials who learned of the move over the weekend.
According to the FT, the unnamed sources said that they had received calls from US officials as part of a lobbying attempt by Washington to end Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, as US President Donald Trump continues his efforts to reduce gas prices ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
As well as threatening to suspend the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism, which allows Ukraine’s allies to pool financial resources to purchase US-manufactured military equipment and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the US officials also threatened to end the sharing of intelligence with Kyiv, a vital resource for planning Ukrainian airstrikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump appeared to blindside both Moscow and Kyiv when he announced that both countries had agreed to a moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes. Though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said shortly afterwards that he was unaware of any such agreement, he said that it was “important that it become reality” and signalled his readiness to support the plan if Russia did so as well.
The Kremlin has yet to issue an official reaction to Trump’s ceasefire claim, and, according to a White House spokesperson, “The Russians are thinking about it; we’ll find out soon if they’re ready,” Axios reported.
However, as the ceasefire announced by Trump only applies to oil refineries, rather than energy infrastructure in general, Ukrainian officials are believed to view the proposal as “one-sided”, Axios reported, noting that the country has just one oil refinery, which isn’t even operating at full capacity, while Russia has dozens of such facilities.
