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Ukraine received no warning from Western partners before a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said Washington was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine, according to “Reuters”.
Russia did not strike Ukrainian energy targets overnight for the first time since Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on Sunday, but hit transport and logistics infrastructure with ballistic missiles and drones.
Five missiles struck civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine had not received the usual warning from allies about ballistic missile launches. He called the attack “particularly vile” but did not link the absence of a warning to US threats to restrict intelligence sharing.
“Intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches helps save lives,” Zelensky wrote on X, describing it as one of the most critical issues.
Trump says intelligence sharing continues
Trump told reporters that the United States continued to share intelligence with Ukraine and was working with Kyiv and Moscow to end the war. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel,” he said.
Asked whether Russia had violated the ceasefire, Trump said: “I’ll let you know about that later.” He sidestepped a question about whether Russia could use proceeds from a diesel deal to buy more bombs, saying the diesel was being released “into the world” and not to the United States.
“Reuters” and other media have reported that US officials threatened to halt intelligence sharing and weapons sales unless Ukraine stopped attacking Russian refineries. Kyiv depends heavily on US intelligence for advance warnings of missile strikes, officials and experts say.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Ukraine was still receiving US military intelligence and attributed the delayed warning to the type of weapon Russia had used. Air-raid alerts in Kyiv sounded on Monday night only after several explosions had already hit the city.
Ukraine says it is ready for talks
Zelensky said Ukraine had not targeted Russian refineries since Trump’s Sunday announcement. He said Kyiv supported an energy truce if Russia also observed it and was ready for meetings with US officials.
In his nightly address on X, Zelensky said he had sent proposals to US officials ahead of possible meetings in the coming days with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. He also called on Ukraine’s partners to press Russia to take reciprocal steps towards de-escalation.
A Ukrainian delegation held talks in the United States last week. People familiar with the meeting said Witkoff and Kushner told the delegation that an agreement allowing Russian diesel exports was part of an effort to bring Moscow back to negotiations.
Russian strikes also killed four people in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and wounded dozens elsewhere in the country, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia struck six Ukrainian energy sites on Monday. It was not clear whether Moscow had deliberately avoided energy infrastructure overnight and on Tuesday. A Kremlin spokesman said contacts were ongoing but gave no further details.
Ukraine regards attacks on Russian oil refineries as one of its few means of reducing Moscow’s ability to wage war. Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukrainian strikes—which prompted Moscow to suspend diesel exports—for a sharp rise in US fuel prices this year, a concern for his Republican Party with congressional midterm elections three weeks away. Most analysts say the US war in Iran has had a much greater impact on prices.
Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, said European allies had “very limited” ability to replace US early-warning intelligence on Russian missile strikes. He said Ukraine relied on the US Space-Based Infrared System, which, in his assessment, only the United States could provide.
Sybiha said the US request for Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries showed how Kyiv’s position had strengthened. Referring to Trump’s remark during a tense Oval Office meeting last year that Zelensky “didn’t have the cards”, Sybiha said Ukraine had moved from “having no cards” to “not playing your cards”.
