US Urged Kyiv for Months Not to Hit Refineries: What Is Known About Appeals by Vance, Kushner, and Witkoff

According to The Wall Street Journal, high-level US administration officials have in recent months appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to refrain from striking Russian oil refineries, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the American publication. Among those who reportedly led these negotiations, newspaper sources name US Vice President JD Vance, as well as presidential special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Washington's Repeated Appeals

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that the US had approached the Ukrainian side six times asking to halt attacks on Russian energy facilities. The count of these appeals dates back to US President Donald Trump's meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. Thus, according to the publication, Washington's pressure on Kyiv regarding energy strikes was systematic rather than a one-off event over several months.

Kyiv's Position: Attacks Until Energy Truce

Ukrainian authorities have reportedly taken a hardline stance. An informed source at RBC-Ukraine assured that attacks on Russian refineries will continue until an energy truce is reached. Thus, Kyiv links its willingness to stop strikes on refining infrastructure with the existence of a mutual and confirmed ceasefire in the energy sector.

The "Energy Truce": Divergence in Assessments

Against this backdrop, US President Donald Trump publicly demanded that Ukraine immediately halt strikes on Russian refineries and announced an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia. Meanwhile, according to available reports, both sides stated they knew nothing about such agreements. Ukraine reportedly agreed to the energy truce, but Russia subsequently attacked Ukrainian energy facilities again. Following this, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resumption of strikes on Russian refineries, and Donald Trump criticized the decision, calling such attacks a "disgrace".

Significance of Signals from Washington

The combination of these statements indicates that the issue of energy strikes has become one of the key points in contacts between the US, Ukraine, and Russia. The appeals by Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner reported by the WSJ show that the Trump administration is actively trying to influence Kyiv's tactics, while the Ukrainian side ties its actions to the presence of a real and mutual energy truce. The divergence over whether such a truce exists and to what extent remains a central contradiction in this line of negotiations.