US Pressured as Ukraine Targets Russian Energy

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Europe cannot shoulder responsibility alone for ending the war in Ukraine and urged the United States to share the burden as President Trump presses allies to stop Russian energy imports and has threatened tariffs. Trump has shifted his rhetoric, praising Ukraine’s ability to retake territory and saying Russia has gained “virtually no land.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told U.S. media that Trump green‑lit retaliatory strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and military factories, that Kyiv is seeking longer‑range weapons and “will use them,” and that he would not target civilians and is prepared to step down after the war ends. Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian refining and petrochemical targets — including the Salavat complex — as part of a growing campaign against Russia’s energy sector. Speaking at the U.N., Zelenskyy warned that weapons, drones and AI increasingly decide survival in war and called for intensified Western diplomacy, including outreach to India to reduce its purchases of Russian energy. Open-source reporting and Reuters figures continue to show Russia controls Crimea and large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine despite Ukrainian counteroffensives.