Allies gave Ukraine no warning of impending missile attack, Zelensky says

Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Ukraine received no warning from Western partners before a Russian missile attack on its capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday, but President Donald Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence even as he pressured Kyiv to halt attacks on Russian refineries.

Russia hit no Ukrainian energy targets overnight for the first time since Trump’s surprise Sunday announcement of an “ energy ceasefire ,” but hammered transport and logistics with ballistic missiles and drones.

Reuters and other media have reported that US officials have threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it stops attacking Russian refineries. Kyiv relies heavily on US intelligence for early warnings of missile strikes, experts and officials say.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Washington continued to share intelligence with Ukraine and was working with both Kyiv and Moscow to end the war. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel,” he said.

Trump was asked whether Russia had violated the ceasefire and answered: “I’ll let you know about that later.”

Asked if Russia could use proceeds from the diesel deal to purchase more bombs, Trump sidestepped the question. “That’s a diesel deal, not for us. That’s being released into the world. That’s not being released to us.”

Zelensky said Ukraine had not targeted Russian refineries since Trump’s announcement on Sunday.

He said Kyiv had not received the usual warning from allies of ballistic missile launches before a “particularly vile” attack on Kyiv overnight, in which five missiles hit civilian infrastructure.

“Intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives,” Zelensky said on X, “and this is one of the most critical issues.” He stopped short of linking the lack of warning to any US threats.

Air alerts sounded in Kyiv on Monday night only after several explosions had already ripped through the city.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Ukraine was still receiving US military intelligence and attributed the delay to the type of weapon Russia had used.

As Ukraine fights a larger, richer and better-equipped enemy, Kyiv sees the strikes on Russian oil refineries as one of its few instruments to reduce Moscow’s ability to fight.

Yet Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukrainian attacks – which prompted Moscow to suspend diesel exports – for a sharp rise in US fuel prices this year, a headache for his Republican Party ahead of congressional midterm elections in three weeks.

Most analysts say the US war in Iran has had a far greater impact on the price rise.

Russia had struck six Ukrainian energy sites on Monday. It was unclear whether Moscow had deliberately avoided energy infrastructure overnight and on Tuesday.

A Kremlin spokesman, asked about the energy ceasefire, would only say that contacts were ongoing, but declined to provide any further details.

In his nightly video address posted on X, Zelensky said he had sent proposals to US officials with a view to new meetings in coming days with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on ways to resolve the conflict.

He said Ukraine supported Trump’s announcement of an energy truce provided that Russia observed it.

“We need to work for peace, we need to look for ways to do the proper actions. Ukraine is ready for meetings,” he said.

Earlier, Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s position, saying that Kyiv was ready for reciprocal steps to de-escalate, calling on partners to pressure Russia.

A Ukrainian delegation held talks in the United States last week and people familiar with the meeting said Witkoff and Kushner told them that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports was part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations.

Russian strikes also killed four people in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and dozens were wounded across the country, Ukrainian officials said.

Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, said Ukraine’s European allies had “very limited” ability to replace US early-warning intelligence about Russian missile strikes.

“Ukraine relies on the so-called Space-Based Infrared System which the US deploys – and the US system is really second to none and only the United States can provide that,” he said.

Sybiha said the US request to halt attacks on Russian refineries showed how Ukraine’s position had strengthened, alluding to Trump’s comment to Zelensky in a tense Oval Office meeting last year that “you don’t have the cards”.

“In less than two years, we have gone from ‘having no cards’ to ‘not playing your cards’. That is an achievement,” Sybiha said.

瓦伦丁·奥吉连科/路透社

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周二表示，在俄罗斯导弹袭击乌克兰首都之前，乌克兰没有收到西方伙伴的任何警告。但美国总统特朗普表示，尽管他向基辅施压，要求其停止对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击，但华盛顿仍在分享情报。

自特朗普周日出人意料地宣布“能源停火”以来，俄罗斯一夜之间首次没有袭击乌克兰的能源目标，但却用弹道导弹和无人机重创了乌克兰的运输和物流系统。

路透社和其他媒体报道称，美国官员威胁称，除非乌克兰停止袭击俄罗斯炼油厂，否则将切断与乌克兰的情报共享和武器销售。专家和官员表示，基辅严重依赖美国情报获取导弹袭击的预警信息。

特朗普周二对记者表示，华盛顿将继续与乌克兰分享情报，并正与基辅和莫斯科合作结束战争。“我们正在帮助他们，我们正在分享情报，”他说。

当被问及俄罗斯是否违反了停火协议时，特朗普回答说：“稍后我会告诉你这件事。”

当被问及俄罗斯是否会利用柴油交易的收益购买更多核弹时，特朗普回避了这个问题。“那是一笔柴油交易，不是给我们的。那是要流入全世界的市场，不是给我们的。”

泽连斯基表示，自特朗普周日宣布以来，乌克兰没有对俄罗斯炼油厂采取任何打击行动。

他说，基辅方面没有像往常一样收到盟友关于弹道导弹发射的警告，就在昨晚，基辅遭到了一次“特别卑鄙”的袭击，五枚导弹击中了民用基础设施。

泽连斯基在接受X电视台采访时表示：“掌握俄罗斯弹道导弹发射情报有助于挽救生命，这是最关键的问题之一。”但他并未将缺乏预警与美国的任何威胁联系起来。

周一晚间，基辅发生数起爆炸后，空中警报才拉响。

乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈表示，乌克兰仍在接收美国军事情报，并将延迟归因于俄罗斯使用的武器类型。

乌克兰面对的是一个规模更大、财力更雄厚、装备更精良的敌人，基辅将袭击俄罗斯炼油厂视为削弱莫斯科战斗力的少数手段之一。

然而，特朗普一再将今年美国燃油价格的急剧上涨归咎于乌克兰的袭击——这导致莫斯科暂停了柴油出口——这令他的共和党在三周后即将举行的国会中期选举前头疼不已。

大多数分析人士认为，美国在伊朗的战争对物价上涨的影响要大得多。

俄罗斯周一袭击了乌克兰的六个能源设施。目前尚不清楚莫斯科是否在周一晚间和周二刻意避开了能源基础设施。

当被问及能源停火事宜时，克里姆林宫发言人仅表示双方仍在进行接触，但拒绝提供任何进一步的细节。

泽连斯基在X网站上发布的每晚视频讲话中表示，他已向美国官员提交了提案，希望在未来几天与美国特使史蒂夫·威特科夫和贾里德·库什纳举行新的会晤，讨论解决冲突的途径。

他说，乌克兰支持特朗普宣布的能源停火协议，前提是俄罗斯遵守该协议。

他说：“我们需要为和平而努力，我们需要寻找采取适当行动的途径。乌克兰已做好会谈准备。”

此前，泽连斯基重申了乌克兰的立场，称基辅已准备好采取对等措施缓和局势，并呼吁伙伴国向俄罗斯施压。

上周，一个乌克兰代表团在美国举行了会谈。知情人士透露，维特科夫和库什纳告诉他们，允许俄罗斯柴油出口的协议是促使俄罗斯重返谈判桌的举措之一。

乌克兰官员称，俄罗斯的空袭还造成乌克兰第二大城市哈尔科夫四人死亡，全国各地数十人受伤。

挪威国防研究所的导弹专家法比安·霍夫曼表示，乌克兰的欧洲盟友“非常有限”的能力来取代美国关于俄罗斯导弹袭击的早期预警情报。

他说：“乌克兰依赖于美国部署的所谓天基红外系统——美国的这套系统确实是首屈一指的，只有美国才能提供。”

Sybiha表示，美国要求停止对俄罗斯炼油厂的袭击，表明乌克兰的地位已经加强，他暗指特朗普去年在椭圆形办公室与泽连斯基的一次紧张会晤中对泽连斯基说的那句话：“你没有底牌。”

“不到两年时间，我们就从‘一无所有’变成了‘无需出牌’。这算得上是一项成就，”西比哈说道。