The White House under President Donald Trump has launched a major pressure campaign on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, marking a sharp turn in Washington's approach to the Russia-Ukraine war. The latest moves from the Trump administration aim to force Kyiv into a settlement and an end to the fighting, at significant cost to Ukraine's battlefield position.
At the center of the pressure is Trump's demand that Ukraine immediately cease drone and missile strikes on oil refineries and energy infrastructure deep inside Russian territory. Washington claims these attacks are driving up global fuel and energy prices, while Zelensky has pointed to the Middle East conflict as the real cause of the price surge.
As part of the pressure mechanism, direct warnings have been delivered to senior Ukrainian military officials that the United States may halt or freeze operational intelligence sharing and early-warning alerts. The impact of the threat is already being felt on the ground: President Zelensky noted that recent Russian missile attacks on energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region struck without the advance warning that had routinely come from American partners.
Fighters and drone operators on the front lines are also reporting a dramatic change, with a significant drop in internet speeds provided by Elon Musk's Starlink company to the Ukrainian front, damaging the operational capacity of some of Ukraine's autonomous systems.
At the same time, President Trump and President Putin finalized a Russian-American deal: for the first time in years, Washington approved a diesel import deal from Russia to lower fuel prices, and President Trump simultaneously declared an "energy ceasefire" without advance notice to any party.
