Zelensky was quick to criticise Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, calling it a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts view the deal as an attempt by the US president to allay domestic concerns about high fuel prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Zelensky wrote on social media on Saturday that Russian attacks on energy facilities in the capital, Kyiv, demonstrated Russia’s “true intentions”.
“Russia’s choice is war. And they will be ready to end it only when they feel that their ability to drag the war out is diminishing.
“Unfortunately, the signals Russia received yesterday were entirely different – signals suggesting that it could simply keep attacking. And this needs to be corrected.”
Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months, as Moscow’s full-scale invasion, launched in 2022, drags on.
On Thursday, at least 33 people were killed in another Russian glide bomb attack on two civilian buses in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region.
The day before, 22 people including five children died as a Russian missile hit an apartment block in the town of Pryluky, east of Kyiv.
The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine jumped by 55%, external in the first eight months of this year, according to the UN.
Russia has also stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter approaches, a strategy it has undertaken in previous years. Kyiv has repeatedly accused it of targeting Ukraine’s civilian population, which Moscow denies.
For its part, Ukraine has increasingly adopted a policy of striking infrastructure often deep inside Russia that is crucial to its economy, including several oil refineries and terminals.
Several strikes on data centres owned by Yandex have left the tech giant struggling to maintain services.
Kyiv says its strikes are aimed at curtailing revenue streams for Russia’s war machine.
