Washington threatens Ukraine with halt to arms supplies over strikes on Russian refineries

Washington pressure on Kyiv

The administration of US President Donald Trump is attempting to force Ukraine to cease strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. To achieve this goal, the American side is using hard threats that could jeopardise the functioning of the mechanism for supplying weapons from the US via European partners.

This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources among European officials.

Details of diplomatic pressure

According to FT information, over Saturday and Sunday, US representatives held a series of phone calls with the leadership of European capitals and Kyiv. The main objective of these contacts was to extract a commitment to stop attacks on oil refineries in Russia. The publication's interlocutors confirmed that they either received such calls themselves or were aware of their content.

Washington threatened to suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The PURL (Priority Ukraine Requirements List) mechanism, through which European countries purchase American weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is also under threat.

«Вони дзвонять у Київ... вони дзвонять усім [у Європі]», — розповів один із чиновників, якому телефонував представник оборонного відомства США. (They are calling Kyiv... they are calling everyone [in Europe], said one official who was called by a representative of the US Department of Defence.)

Reactions of the parties

Among the individuals contacted by US government officials, the publication names Pavlo Palis, military adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who previously commanded the 93rd Separate Mechanised Brigade.

The White House neither confirmed nor commented on the calls.