Drapatyi and Palisa received US threats over Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries – Kyiv Independent

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa received calls from US officials threatening consequences if Ukraine attacked Russian oil refineries following Donald Trump’s "energy truce."

The Kyiv Independent reported this, citing two unnamed Ukrainian officials, according to Censor.NET.

Details

Two Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent that their US counterparts had made it clear that Kyiv would be held responsible for any strikes on Russian energy infrastructure during the announced truce.

According to another official, Palisa, who oversees military affairs at the Presidential Office, and Drapatyi received calls from the US side.

Palisa previously confirmed to the Financial Times that he had been threatened by officials in the Trump administration. In the materials provided, the calls to Drapatyi are reported only by an anonymous source.

The FT previously reported that US officials had called Kyiv and European capitals over the weekend, lobbying for an end to Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy sector.

"They are telling everyone they will halt intelligence sharing and PURL"

"They called all the senior military officials with threats. They are telling everyone that they are going to halt both intelligence sharing and PURL," one of the publication’s sources said.

PURL ("Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List") is a European-led initiative through which Ukraine receives critical US weapons funded primarily by NATO countries. Weapons worth $6.7 billion were delivered during the program’s first year.

There has been no direct US military aid since the start of Trump’s term, but intelligence sharing has continued.

Background

On October 9, US President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Russian dictator Putin and reached an agreement on Russian diesel supplies to US and global markets.
According to him, Russia would "immediately" supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to US and global markets, another 500,000 tonnes during November, and a further one million tonnes "immediately after that."
The US Treasury Department announced that, at Trump’s direction, the Office of Foreign Assets Control was immediately issuing a temporary general license authorizing Russian diesel supplies to the global market.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called permission for Russia to sell petroleum products an "investment in war" and urged the US to hold firm talks with Moscow and impose sanctions under Lindsey Graham’s legislation.
Axios reported that, during talks in Miami, US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had allegedly warned the Ukrainian side that access to US intelligence could be cut off if Ukraine continued striking Russian oil refineries.
On October 11, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine would be ready to halt strikes on Russian refineries if Russia stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
That same day, US President Donald Trump announced the start of an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.
In comments to Axios, Zelenskyy said US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the start of an "energy truce" had come as a surprise to the Ukrainian side.
The president later said Ukraine was ready to refrain from striking Russia’s energy sector provided Russia took similar steps.