Russian authorities criticized this Friday that the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, continues with the offensive against Russian refineries, despite the fact that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, has urged him to stop these attacks. Moscow’s complaints come in parallel with the controversial energy agreement closed between Washington and Russia, which temporarily softens financial and commercial sanctions on diesel.
"They have disobeyed once again and I would say they are simply ignoring him. Although Trump has insisted on this issue and continues to do so, they are not paying attention to him," presidential adviser on foreign policy, Yuri Ushakov, reproached in statements to the Russian state radio Vesti, after new attacks became known this Friday.
Russian and Ukrainian media have reported a new drone attack against a refinery located in the Samara region, as well as against facilities of a canning company in the province of Briansk that supplies food to the Russian Army.
The governor of Samara, Viacheslav Fedorishchev, has acknowledged a drone attack on the area, without offering too many details, except that part of the devices were intercepted by anti-aircraft defense systems.
The affected refinery is located in the city of Novokuibishevsk and belongs to Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company. These facilities had already been attacked previously by Ukrainian forces, the last time in mid-August.
Ushakov has attributed to Kiev's European allies the Ukrainian "boldness" to ignore Trump and continue with the attacks. "They surely would not have dared to do it on their own," the adviser to President Vladimir Putin opined.
From the Kremlin they have emphasized, however, that this campaign of attacks does not compromise the possibility of entering into eventual negotiations with Ukraine. "No," spokesperson Dimitri Peskov responded tersely when asked this Friday about that extreme.
In parallel, the Russian authorities have assured that the attacks will not affect the fuel supply neither the domestic market nor the fulfillment of export commitments. "Our refineries have already resumed their operations (..) and we are guaranteeing imports," they have pointed out.
At the beginning of the month, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin announced an agreement to resume diesel shipments, at least until April 2027, which has caused Volodimir Zelenski's discontent. Washington has increased pressure on Kiev in recent weeks to get it to stop this type of operation, even going so far as to limit the delivery of weapons and technology.
With this controversial pact, sealed in the final stretch toward the midterm elections on November 3, Trump seeks to contain the rise in the price of diesel and, with it, moderate inflation, which has hit key sectors of his electoral base hard, such as transport, agriculture, and livestock farming.