The disagreement between Washington and Kyiv over Ukraine's refinery campaign is now out in the open. Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian oil infrastructure on Thursday after a short pause requested by the U.S. president, saying Russia had not stopped hitting Ukraine's power grid.
The U.S. president criticised the renewed strikes in a television interview, saying they push world oil prices higher, and described the Ukrainian president as difficult to deal with. Zelenskyy, for his part, arrived at a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday flanked by EU leaders.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had supported an energy ceasefire but accused Russia of not respecting it, promised a further round of sanctions, and said sanctions would not be lifted unless Russia stops the war.
Overnight, Russian drones killed several people in Kharkiv and left roughly 270,000 households without power in the western Volyn region, according to local governors - a reminder that the energy war behind the diplomatic row is still being fought nightly.
