Trump calls Ukraine's refinery strikes "a disgrace" as Europe rallies behind Kyiv

Donald Trump has called Ukraine's renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries "a disgrace", after an "energy ceasefire" he announced between the two countries collapsed.

Ukraine resumed the strikes after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was abandoning the ceasefire, which Trump declared unilaterally on Sunday. Ukraine had briefly halted its attacks to show it was ready for talks, but Russia carried on striking Ukrainian power plants.

"More difficult to deal with than Putin"

"There are a lot of targets you can hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he's not doing a good service for the world," Trump told Newsmax. "I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."

Relations between Kyiv and Washington have soured since Trump eased sanctions on Russia in return for Moscow releasing large amounts of diesel onto world markets, a move widely seen as an attempt to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections. Zelenskyy said it would let Russia press on with its invasion. This week Ukraine also said its military's Starlink access had been restricted.

Europe's support

Arriving at an EU summit in Brussels, Zelenskyy thanked "real leaders" in the EU for their "huge support", and said Ukraine wanted to end the war as quickly as possible, but "we don't see now signals from the Russian side that they are ready".

The European Council president, António Costa, said Ukraine could count on the EU's support in the war and on its path towards membership. The Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said Russia had not respected the ceasefire "a single minute" and promised a 22nd round of sanctions. "We will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war," she said.

France's president, Emmanuel Macron, said it was "crucial" that Ukraine received "all the means necessary to protect itself". Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, wrote: "You are not alone."

Fresh attacks

Zelenskyy said Russia had launched "yet another vile drone strike" on energy infrastructure in Lutsk, causing blackouts. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of derailing US peace efforts by resuming strikes on refineries.

The war

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than four and a half years ago, in February 2022. US efforts under Trump to end it have made no progress, and attacks on energy infrastructure on both sides have intensified as winter approaches.

The UK's position

Zelenskyy visited London earlier in the week, where the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, told him the UK's support "will not change". The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, travelled to Washington to urge the US to keep backing Ukraine. Britain is one of Ukraine's biggest military backers, and has hosted many Ukrainian refugees, including families in Birmingham, since the invasion.